Jessica J. TeSlaa, Ph.D. - US grants

Graduate education in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) traditionally focuses on preparing students to succeed in research-intensive careers. Scientists and engineers are generally not taught how to engage with the community as part of their research. teaching, or other long-term career goals. Graduate students often do not know how to access training in community engagement, are unaware of its importance, and/or lack the confidence or experience to take part. This project, the Public Service Fellows Program, will test a year-long professional development program as a means to prepare graduate students to view public service as a responsibility that comes with their scientific training. It will provide practical experience working with community partners on science-focused issues and projects. Integrating public service into STEM graduate student training will improve the practice of future generations of scientists by teaching the specific skills and mindsets needed for community engagement. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to the University of Wisconsin-Madison will strengthen ties between the scientific community and the public by training science and engineering graduate students to develop meaningful relationships and impactful, mutually beneficial projects with a wide variety of community partners. Graduate students from any STEM discipline will be able to incorporate issues of public concern into their career goals, whether they will pursue careers in academia, education, outreach, business, or policy.

The model being tested is a "Learn, Prepare, Implement" sequence where public service fellows will experience increasing levels of independence, beginning with a grounding in foundational knowledge and progressing to a science-focused practicum experience working directly with a community partner. Fellows will be able to design their experience around one of four tracks: community-engaged teaching, direct service, policy, and social enterprise. Assessment will focus on two primary research questions: (1) What are graduate students' motivations to participate in the Public Service Fellows Program? and (2) How do students' professional identities change as a result of participation in the Public Service Fellows Program, and what component(s) of the program are primary contributors to these changes? The hypotheses are that community engagement will become a more integrated part of the fellows' professional identities, that graduate students who participate in the program will have an increased commitment to a community-engagement, regardless of career path, and that the biggest impact will be due to the in-depth practicum portion of the Public Service Fellows Program.

The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.