THE CATALYST SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Guidelines for mentors and students
First Cohort: Fall 2009 – Spring 2011
The Catalyst Program, supported by a grant from NSF, offers financial and academic assistance to students in the disciplines of mathematics, physics, computer science and geosciences (Earth & Environmental Sci.). The Program is structured to support two cohorts of 20 students each, 5 from each discipline. The award was received for a total of four and a half years.
An important component of The Catalyst Program is providing students with faculty and peer-graduate mentors. Detailed information about the goals, objectives and opportunities that the Program offers can be found on our website at: www.hunter.cuny.edu/catalyst. All documents needed for application to the scholarship, mentor’s reports, Academic Success Plan (ASP), information on The Catalyst Seminar, reading materials, students’ presentations and information about various research and internship opportunities can also be found on the web page.
As stated in the Catalyst application:
All scholars will be assigned a faculty mentor who will advise the student on matters related to his/her academic progress and future program planning. Scholars will be required to meet regularly with faculty mentors and graduate student peer mentors to discuss scholarly progress, participation in Catalyst activities, academic aspirations and career goals. During semesters 2, 3 and 4 of the award period, scholars will enroll in a 1-credit seminar and will prepare an individual Academic Success Plan.
Scholars will be expected to participate in a variety of networking experiences designed to provide personal and professional support. They will also be encouraged to participate in scholarly activities such as research or internships, attend department colloquia or join professional organizations. Students in the Catalyst Program will be positioned to assume leadership roles on campus and to promote the importance of majoring in established or emerging fields within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
General Information
1. Mentors should make every possible effort to attend all or most of the general gatherings of scholars, particularly the social ones.
2. Mentor’s commitment to The Program is to meet with students at least 3 (2 for graduate-peer mentors) times per semester and submit a mentor report. The template for the report can be downloaded from Mentor’s Page link of the website.
3. New students will have orientation by mid-Fall semester of their first year in the Program.
4. Students should expect to meet at least 3 times a year as a group: mid-fall semester, winter session or early spring semester, and at the end of the spring semester for a social gathering.
5. Students who elect to engage in research projects for their ASP will meet with their mentors to determine what projects they will undertake and how often they should meet. As students develop an ASP and submit to The Program, they receive an extra $100 per semester of ASP.
6. Students will receive funds from NSF (via RF) for their participation in the program. Their stipends will be distributed in two payments in the fall and spring semesters.
7. To remain in good standing in the program, students need to demonstrate academic progress toward their undergraduate degree, with the goal of obtaining it by the end of the second year in the Program. This includes maintaining a GPA of 3.0.
The Program would like to offer some comments on successful mentoring of students. These comments are summarized from discussions that many have had on mentoring and from the Effective Mentoring Workshop held at the beginning of Fall 2009, the start of The Catalyst Program.
Suggested guidelines and information
1. At a first meeting of mentor and student, the mentor should discuss the student’s academic program (courses, internships, research projects) looking at that year specifically and the ones to follow generally. Mentors may also want to discuss with the students what other obligations they have (employment, family) to help the student figure out how to balance those responsibilities with their academic programs.
2. Mentor and student should meet in fall semester or no later than the beginning of the second semester (spring) to discuss the set up of an ASP (Academic Success Plan). They might consider setting up a schedule of meetings. Mentors should determine/discuss what kind of “check-ins” are needed over the course of the semester to supervise the ASP, review grades with the student at midterm and at the end of the semester, and anything else that might be useful.
3. Keep in mind that for some students, close support and monitoring of their academic progress, and advising on their academic plans may be the focus of the first year and then they may take on an activity, while for other students plunging into an activity or planning a complicated project may be the right choice from the start.
4. For those students who elect to work on research projects:
A general comment: the first year projects should be related to current studies of the student or be preparation for more advanced research activities. The second year should find students engaged in research projects with faculty or/and an independent project.
· Mentors should work with the student to set up a project. There is no set plan for student projects. These should be negotiated by the mentor and the student.
· Mentors should work with the student to determine how much time should be spent on the project, say weekly or otherwise.
· Mentors should also discuss with students what the “product” of their project will be, whether it is a self-contained report on a topic, or part of a larger research project or article.
1