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Moderator: Robin White, Westfield State University

Capacity Building: Thematic Inquiry-based Mentorship with Enhancement Model

Hugh Fox, Associate Director, SUNY Old Westbury College

Fernando Nieto, Professor of Biology, Director of Science & Technology Entry Program (STEP), SUNY Old Westbury College

The COVID pivot provided an opportunity for two programs at SUNY Old Westbury College to develop a unique curricular model of college/community collaboration between the Science & Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Community, Action, Learning and Leadership (CALL)/First-Year Experience (FYE) Programs at SUNY Old Westbury. The curriculum shared through this session is designed to illustrate to attendees a model that helped students become intentional learners and conscious decision-makers in a remote learning space during the COVID pandemic and beyond as Old Westbury returns to traditional on-campus learning. The STEP/CALL collaboration make course-embedded science and community engagement a cornerstone of college entry, leveraging college, community and foundation resources to enrich student learning, while enhancing the capacity of intercultural understanding and communication, teamwork and leadership skills necessary to address pressing science and social issues. The collaborative has honed the career-preparatory rigor in its various components in college readiness and in engaging underrepresented minorities (URM) in STEM subjects.