To promote the advancement of native american students in IT and stem careers, southwestern indian polytechnic institute proposes an expansion and proliferation of the facilities and curricula…

This is a $761,940.00 cooperative agreement awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the Board of Regents of the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI). The purpose of the contract is to expand and proliferate the facilities and curricula developed under SIPI's previous NASA Tribal Colleges and Universities Experiential Learning Opportunity (TCU-ELO) grant from 2014-2017. The contract supports a year-round robotics-centered IT immersion program that aims to promote the advancement of Native American students in IT and STEM careers. The program has demonstrated the ability to increase enrollment and completion of STEM courses, as well as SIPI graduation rates with an Associate's degree in Pre-Engineering, followed by continuation of studies at the university level. The contract does not have a set-aside designation.

To promote the advancement of native american students in IT and stem careers, southwestern indian polytechnic institute proposes an expansion and proliferation of the facilities and curricula developed in our NASA TCU-ELO 2014-17 grant. We have created a year-round robotics centered IT immersion program to provide students a stimulating learning environment to explore their curiosity and creativity in IT and stem. We have documented our ability to consistently and significantly increase the number of college and high school students enrolled in and completing stem courses, and a large increase in sipi graduation rates with an as pre-engineering degree, followed by continuation of studies at the university level. This academic year, over 200 college and high school students are actively involved in the program on a daily/weekly basis. As the program matured, we developed a visionary model that will assist in sustaining both program development and operation. This intra/inter-generational experiential learning model involves students from PHD level down to middle school mentoring younger near-peers. As we have documented over the course of the current grant, when we foster intra/inter-generational experiential learning guided by elders we build a more impactful, and effective educational experience.