Grants & Initiatives - Student Recruitment, Retention and Success

Enrollment management at UMass Lowell includes a number of programs to assist with student recruitment, increase enrollment, and support retention activities, which in turn will result in a more successful academic experience for students (and increase graduation rates).

As a research university, we are focusing resources to increase the recruitment and retention of students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. In addition, many of our programs focus on increasing the number of students from underrepresented minority groups entering and completing degrees in the STEM fields.

The following is a list of some of these types of grants, programs and initiatives underway at UMass Lowell:

• ULSAMP
• GEAR UP
• DESIGNCAMP
• Artbotics
• SLICE

1. ULSAMP (Urban Massachusetts Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation)
   

   1. Focus: STEM fields, Students from underrepresented minority groups and Freshmen students from Lowell and Lawrence High Schools, transfer students from MCC.

   2. Department/Division: Centers for Learning
      
      
   3. Contact: Shiela_Riley Callahan
      
      
   4. Partners: 
      • Middlesex Community College (primary partner)
      • UMass Boston (lead campus)
      • UMass Dartmouth
      • Wentworth Institute of Technology
      • Bristol Community College
      • Roxbury Community College
      • Bunker Hill Community College
        
        
2. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs)
   
   
   1. Focus: Middle and High School students from the Lowell Public Schools system.  All academic fields.
      
      
   2. Department/Division: Center for Family, Work & Community (CFWC)
      
      
   3. Contact: Bowa Tucker
      
      
   4. Partners: 
      • Middlesex Community College
      • Lowell Public Schools
      • Students
      • Parents
      • Businesses
      • Non-profit organizations
      • Religious institutions
        
        
3. DESIGNCAMP
   1. Focus: Grades 5 – 11. No residency requirements.  Academic focus - science and engineering.
      
      
   2. Department/Division: College of Engineering
      
      
   3. Contact: C.J. Miller
      
      
   4. Partners:
      
      • Raytheon
      • Noyce Foundation
      • Mark Gelfand & Barbara Goldman
      • Tyco Electronics
      • 3M Touch Systems
      • EMC Corporation
      • UMass Lowell’s WISE Program
        
        
4. Artbotics
   1. Focus: Project-based learning to introduce students to computing.  Learning about computer science and robotics by creating interactive, public exhibits.  High school students.
      
      
   2. Department/Division: Computer Science and Art Departments
      
      
   3. Contacts: Holly Yanco, Fred Martin, Hyun Ju Kim
      
      
   4. Partners: 
      • Lowell High School
      • The Revolving Museum in Lowell
        
        
5. Service Learning Integrated throughout the College of Engineering (SLICE)
   1. Focus: Integrate service-learning into the engineering curriculum at UMass Lowell so that every student is exposed to service-learning in every semester of their experience in every department at UMass Lowell.
      
      Through Service Learning, engineering students enhance their professional skills, and become better citizens, while local and international community benefit from their service.
      
      
   2. Department/Division: College of Engineering
      
      
   3. Contact: Linda Barrington
      
      
   4. Partners:
      
      • Local community organizations
      • International community organizations (Province of Ancash, Peru)
      • Lowell National Historic Park

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