$4.77 Million DOE Grant Guides BMCC STEM Students Through Pipeline to John Jay College

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $4.77 million for a five-year pipeline partnership, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program), involving three CUNY colleges: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which will serve as the lead institution; Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and Queensborough Community College (QCC).

The project will increase recruitment, retention and graduation rates for Latinx students, women and other underrepresented groups studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

A pipeline from both BMCC and QCC to John Jay College will enable the community college graduates to complete their bachelor’s degree and move on to graduate school and careers in STEM.

In the process, BMCC and Queensborough students will be able to participate in John Jay’s STEM Acceleration Program, developed with support from BNY Mellon and providing workshops and tuition assistance.

Over the next five years, the pipeline program hopes to reach a 10% increase in the community college graduation rate, leading to a 10% increase in the number of students pursing STEM majors at John Jay, and a rise in post-graduate success and median income for STEM graduates two years after graduation.

“The three partner institutions on this $4.77 million DOE grant share a deep commitment to equitably bolstering socioeconomic mobility and life chances across our very diverse student communities,” said BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe. “Participants from John Jay College, Queensborough Community College and BMCC will be striving to increase successful participation in STEM disciplines by Latinx and other students through the design and implementation of high-impact educational practices appropriate to the stages of their advancement from associate degree study, to bachelor degree study, to a wide field of post-baccalaureate opportunities.”

BMCC Acting Dean of Academic Affairs David P. Barnet puts the project in context.

“Almost decade and a half ago, John Jay College and CUNY’s then six community colleges partnered to create a vast articulation network that was enhanced through faculty-owned curriculum alignment and a variety of innovative ideas for preparing and supporting students wishing to transfer to John Jay,” Acting Dean Barnet says. “This ambitious, coordinated enterprise was called the CUNY Justice Academy (CJA) and at BMCC alone it facilitated the transfer of thousands of students, mostly but not exclusively through the linked criminal justice programs.”

Over the years, says Acting Dean Barnet, John Jay continued to retool the CJA by adding new curriculum and initiatives to bolster academic momentum, and now the $4.77 million DOE grant “will allow BMCC to pair with Queensborough Community College in assisting John Jay on major CJA retooling efforts designed to increase the number of Hispanic students at BMCC and QCC who pursue degrees in STEM disciplines.”

“This grant will help us reach community college and Latinx students early in their educational journey to support them on a pathway to successful math and science careers,” said Professor Anthony Carpi, Dean of Research and leader of the grant project. “We will be working with multiple offices across the three colleges to support students every step of the way, with stipends and zero-cost learning materials to mentoring, skills workshops, grad school prep and internship support.”

“What’s great about this active partnership is that we will work together to serve Latinx students through what can be a challenge in the transfer from the associate to baccalaureate institution. Our collaboration will absolutely improve the success of our Latinx students, which comprise approximately 25 percent of our student community. We will better understand their individual needs and expectations at every step of their education journey,” said Queensborough President Christine Mangino.

John Jay hopes to bring in the first wave of QCC and BMCC transfer students under this grant in Fall 2022.