Grove School researchers receive $1.5M grant to build social media platform for STEM students

Joseph Barba, professor of electrical engineering at the Grove School of Engineering, is advancing the aims of the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program by building a social media platform designed specifically for students entering, continuing, or transferring into STEM majors at The City College of New York.

The project is being realized due to a $1.5 million grant over five years from the National Science Foundation. Principal investigator Barba along with co-principal investigators will develop the social media platform during the first year of funding, which supports community building and information sharing interventions assisting students during critical transitions early on.

“We want to address culture shock that the students are going through as they transition; students come here to a completely new environment, and they feel alienated, don’t know where resources are, and tend to be more isolated,” said Barba. “We are targeting Hispanic students to improve the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented minorities.”

Co-principal investigators include:

• Doris Cintron, senior associate provost for the Office of Academic Affairs, Accreditation and Assessment;
• Feridun Delale, chair and Herbert G. Kayser professor of mechanical engineering;
• Jorge Gonzalez, NOAA-CREST professor; and
• Millicent Roth, director of the City College Academy for Professional Development and professor of psychology.

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