- Elizabeth Zulick
- Lowell Institute School
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- Northeastern University
- Jared Auclair
- Associate Dean of Professional Programs and Graduate Affairs
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- Northeastern University
- Mariluci Bladon
- Department Chair
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- Middlesex Community College
- Kemi Jona
- Assistant Vice Chancellor
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- Northeastern University
- Lauren Sadler
- Biotech Navigator
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- Northeastern University
An Accelerated Pathway from Associates to Master's Degree in Biotechnology
NSF Awards: 1834045
2021 (see original presentation & discussion)
Undergraduate, Graduate, Adult learners
The Associates to Master’s (A2M) pathway program supports biotechnology students in Middlesex Community College’s AS in Biotechnology program to Northeastern’s BS in Biotechnology program to Northeastern's MS in Biotechnology program. The A2M pathway is committed to helping students achieve their academic and professional goals by removing barriers associated with navigating through the higher education system. The deep partnership between Middlesex Community College and Northeastern University creates an accessible pathway for low-income and diverse STEM students to attain advanced degrees in biotechnology. This pathway allows us to better serve students, create post-secondary STEM opportunities and train students for careers in the biotech industry. Funding from NSF via a five-year, $4.4 million S-STEM award in 2018 has allowed us to scholarship students along the A2M pathway who meet the eligibility requirements. In addition, the funding is used to provide wrap-around services and supports to our students, including tutoring, textbooks, computers, transportation costs, industry mentors, near-peer mentors and a seminar series. Importantly, we hired a dedicated person, known as the Biotech Navigator, to help students with the transfer process from MCC to Northeastern and soft skill development associated with success in both academic and professional settings. Students can have certainty in their next educational step and do not need to guess or jump through multiple hoops to figure out applications, financial aid, or who to contact for class registration. The A2M cohort is 62% female, 52% URM and 63% first generation college students. The A2M scholarship program has over a 90% retention rate across the three-degree programs.
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Elizabeth Zulick
Lowell Institute School
Thanks for viewing our video! We would love for any thoughts on how to scale our program to other STEM fields and other sites outside of Boston, MA! Please feel free to post any additional questions or comments!
Kemi Jona
Yolanda Abel
Associate Professor
This is a great opportunity; loved the way the students described the flexibility of the program and how it worked with their real lives versus them needing to change (and not being able to ) to adopt to the traditional college model.
Martha Dufresne
Great presentation
Martha Dufresne
Great presentation
Gerhard Salinger
Former Program Officer (NSF)
The video and the abstract describe this interesting program. Has it gone on long enough that you have outcomes? What has been the experiences of student in the program? How have courses at each academic level changed as a result of this program? Some of the success seems to rely on funding for students. What are your ideas on how to sustain the program after NSF funding ends? What funding would be necessary for similar programs in other disciplines?
Elizabeth Zulick
Lowell Institute School
Hi Gerhard! Thanks for these great questions!
We do have some exciting results so far: over 111 unique scholars have been received scholarships, with over 55% being first generation learners, 64% female and 53% under-represented minorities in STEM fields. Excitingly, our retention rate is over 90% at all three levels (AS, BS and MS!).
Students have been really successful and eager to take on the next degree--we are actually over subscribed in the MS level, but have secured additional philanthropic funds to make it work! The average age of student population is 27, so over 75% of our scholars are working while they are in school. We have not had to change our courses in response to this program, but we are constantly updating our courses to align with the changing biotechnology field.
We are currently working on a similar model in the IT space, as there is already a robust student pathway and employers who are eager to engage! Here we are relying on the industry partner to help with the financial component.
On-going funding is critical, as we have found it so important to remove cost as a barrier to education. We are pursuing this in two ways--one is by working with various philanthropic partners to provide funding, and the second is by working with industry partners for both donations and job opportunities for our learners where they will pay for the scholars tuition (as an employment benefit)--similar to a Learn and Earn model. We are hoping this will allow us to grow and scale this program.
If anyone has any additional ideas on how to procure funds--please let us know :-)
Yolanda Abel
Kemi Jona
Assistant Vice Chancellor
Gerhard! It's great to hear from you and hope you are doing well. Miss you at NSF!
Debbie Hurley
What a great opportunity for students. Your presentation shows that the program is working so, I hope that funding will be ongoing.
Kristen Lee
Phenomenal program!
Rita Hagevik
What a great program and this is what we need to do to assist students in getting into STEM fields for sure!
Joselina Cheng
Professor
Excellent program to help students complete their college degrees. Can you elaborate on the graduation rate and employment ratio? Thanks in advance for sharing.
Elizabeth Zulick
Lowell Institute School
Hi Joselina,
Thanks for reaching out!
The retention rate in the AS level is: 91%, at the BS level is: 92%, and at the MS level is: 95%.
Our program caters to a "non-traditional" learner (average age is 28!), so the majority of learners work while they are in school. At the AS level 71% are working, at the BS level 78% are working and at the MS level 75% are working, so most are already employed so this isn't a success metric we focus on. That being said, today, we have more job opportunities that students looking! The demand in biotech in Mass is high and growing, with the entry level job in surplus being biomanufacturing.
Hope this helps!
Susan Warshaw
I was impressed by the way this program embraced flexibility and eased the stress on students by providing laptops and textbooks without administrative burden.
Elizabeth Zulick
Lowell Institute School
Thank you! It has been no easy task, but our lending library is in full swing! The shift the online text books and codes has made it more challenging for us though, as it is way cheaper to share hard-copies of texts!!
Yolanda Abel
Associate Professor
Elizabeth, have you published or made a white paper about the process. It seems like a field guide would be helpful for the type of replication you inquire about in your initial post.
Elizabeth Zulick
Lowell Institute School
We are working on a publication now--any suggestions on where (or how?) to publish a white paper? Feel free to email me too: e.zulick@northeastern.edu!
Gerhard Salinger
Former Program Officer (NSF)
c
The ATE-funded Convergence Technology Center at Collin College (TX), helps student develop successful resumes on LinkedIn. This increases that possibility of students getting interviews. They have guidelines for avoiding mistakes. This may be useful to your students.
c
Elizabeth Zulick
Lowell Institute School
Awesome--thanks for sharing! I will look into this!
Jonee Wilson
What great work! Everything from real on-the-job-experiences to transportation assistance, tutors, and help getting textbooks. This program demonstrates what it means to provide appropriate accommodations for students. My project is trying to find ways to support students who are often pushed to the margins in the context of K-12 math classrooms and this work really demonstrates how it can look to continue to provide concrete supports for students in higher ed. Thank you for providing such a comprehensive model of this type of support!
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.