U.S. National Science Foundation awards Edmonds College $500,000 grant for 'Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education' (ITYC) program

Evelyn Kukhotska (left) and Sandy Eshak (facing) present their undergraduate research project on egg-hatching success and larval survival of the cabbage white butterfly on a variety of Brassicaceae plants. (Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College)

Edmonds College was awarded a $500,000 grant from the “Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education” (ITYC) program sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). 

“This three-year grant from the NSF will help the college reach more underserved students in their pursuit of STEM-focused credentials,” said Edmonds College President Dr. Amit B. Singh. “We look forward to training students as they build valuable skills, receive undergraduate research experience, and prepare for careers in STEM fields.” 

Edmonds will receive its grant based on its proposal: “Beyond the Classroom: Fostering Inclusivity in STEM through External Validation Experiences in Community College CURE (Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences) Programs.” 

The grant will allow Edmonds to continue building its undergraduate research program and tie it closely to the college's micro-credentialing and badging initiatives, which provide alternative mechanisms for students to document their skills to future employers or universities.

Additionally, the grant will foster a collaborative learning environment where students can share their undergraduate research with a community of scientists and experts. This will enhance their understanding of their work and provide opportunities to serve as research mentors to beginning students. By guiding and supporting these younger researchers, students can contribute to the growth of the next generation of scientists while further developing their own identities as researchers. 

Principal investigators Mary Whitfield (Chemistry department) and Gwen Shlichta (Biology department) will lead the program.

“Prof. Shlichta and I are excited that we will be able to provide our students with research experiences not typically available at two-year colleges,” said Whitfield. “Through these experiences, our students will be better prepared to enter the workplace or continue to university."

“We will be able to measure the benefits of the research opportunities that we provide at Edmonds College, such as our Undergraduate Research Symposium, collaborations with universities, service learning, and badging,” added Shlichta. “It will allow us, to better understand how they impact the retention of students in STEM pathways.”

The U.S. National Science Foundation is investing $14.5 million in the inaugural set of awards to 27 community colleges nationwide and eight organizations in planning, conferences, and workshops. The program aims to support potentially transformative projects that will advance innovative, evidence-based practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

"Community colleges play a critical role in training people from all parts of the country for a variety of STEM careers, including future scientists, engineers, and technicians," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "The ‘Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education’ program is essential to how we expand pathways and opportunities so that more talented people from every part of the nation have the opportunity to make their way into STEM."