University of West Georgia Institutional STEM Excellence (UWise)

UWise, funded by the Georgia BOR STEM II initiative, provides support to STEM majors through a summer bridge program. UWise also supports faculty members with mini-grants that focus on improving student success in STEM courses and involving them in faculty-directed undergraduate research. Students in the summer bridge program outperformed non-bridge students in English and STEM courses, as well as the overall GPA. A total of 30 STEM majors participated in UWise-funded research projects, which resulted in 14 student presentations and seven peer-reviewed publications. In conjunction with a Complete College Georgia (CCG) Grant, we have expanded the STEM to STEAM based ENGL 1101/1102 sections from 10 to 12 each term in 2015-2016. A total of 25 faculty members took part in the mini-grant projects, which focused on reducing DFW rates, and resulted in positive gains for students. Ten conference presentations and two peer-reviewed SoTL publications resulted from activities supported by mini-grants