§1862n–6 Undergraduate Education Reform

Summary

The Director must give competitive, merit-based grants to colleges and universities to grow earlier successful changes in undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering, or technology education that increased the number and quality of students studying toward and completing associate’s or baccalaureate degrees in those fields. Grant money can be used to expand successful reforms within or across departments, create multidisciplinary courses or programs, broaden undergraduate research across units, expand proven tutoring or mentoring that helps recruit and keep students, improve STEM teaching for nonmajors (including future teachers), and add technology that directly improves instruction or research. Colleges applying must describe the new plan, the earlier reform it builds on, and show evidence the earlier effort worked with data on recruitment, persistence to degree, and student achievement. Applications must show that key people from the earlier effort will be involved and that the institution supports and is committed to the project, including policies that reward teaching at least as much as research in hiring, promotion, tenure, and teaching duties. Reviewers will judge past success and likely success, institutional commitment, whether the change will shift campus culture and promotion/tenure policies to value teaching, and the chance the reform will continue after the grant. The Director should, when possible, fund a mix of institution types.