Program

In order to help students succeed in their majors and in their careers, SEES has a series of opportunities within the program that help students progress and excel. Some of these opportunities are available to anyone in the College of Science. However, due to the financial limitations of offering these programs, some opportunities are for SEES members only. Below, you will find a flow chart displaying many of the programmatic components offered to SEES students.

SEES Program Structure

Top 5 Best Practices of the SEES program to drive success

1. Establishing a Community.

The SEES program utilizes two community rooms for student gathering. The primary objective of these assemblages is to build a cohort model in which students develop camaraderie, peer support, a group identity and support system as they develop professionally. This community model has been shown to assist students with the rigors associated with higher education (Niemke and Warke, 2011). The community rooms also bring the students closer to the program administrators, which allow the administrators to establish close interpersonal relationships with the many students in the program.

2. Professional Development Activities

Endeavors that prepare students for professional careers help guide, enable and arm SEES participants with the tools, knowledge and confidence needed to persist in a rigorous program. Such activities include performing scientific research, conference travel support, personal statement workshops, resume workshops, time management workshops, poster presentation workshops and site visits to companies and graduate universities.

3. Mentoring Program

SEES offers its members participation in the Faculty/Alumni/Student Mentoring Program (FASMP). This program is designed to help incoming freshmen make a successful transition to the University. As a participant in FASMP, freshmen are matched with a junior or senior SEES member who will serve as a mentor and provide insight into succeeding in college, as well as information about services available on campus. The program also entails many activities and field trips, organized by the mentors. Aside from the freshman benefit, the SEES Mentors also benefit from the activities in FASMP. Each year, the SEES program hosts a social to introduce SEES mentors to faculty and alumni who work in the field the students are pursuing. In doing so, SEES mentors have faculty and alumni as career mentors.

4. Academic Support

The demanding curriculum within departments in the College of Science, necessitate an academic support component to facilitate student success. To accomplish this, SEES conducts a comprehensive workshop program. Academic Excellence Workshops (AEW) are group study sessions led by trained facilitators. AEW’s promote excellence and facilitate mastery of course content through group interaction. AEWs are offered in the foundation courses of Mathematics, Chemistry, and Computer Science. Participants in the AEWs, after enrolling in the targeted sections, are regularly attending workshops, earn higher grades, have a higher retention rate, and graduate sooner than non-workshop participants. Many participants go on to become facilitators themselves, reinforcing their own knowledge while helping others and earning income to help support their education.

5. Financial Support Opportunities

With the increasing cost of education, many students are left taking part-time jobs off campus to offset educational costs. To assist students with their financial needs, SEES has many academic-based employment opportunities. Through grants, SEES is able to fund students to work with faculty on projects. This not only helps financially, but also engages them in cutting edge work within their own field. Aside from fellowships, SEES also offers need-based and accomplishment-based scholarships. Moreover, SEES hires participants in such positions as workshop facilitators (to run Academic Excellence Workshops) and camp counselors (to run the Discovery Camps). This keeps participants on campus and more focused on science. Additionally, the SEES program offers a Textbook & Accessory Loan program. This program allows students to check-out a course textbook, lab coat, calculator, dissection kit or organic chemistry kit with their Bronco ID. This reduces the students' financial load.