STEM Pipeline Fund / Massachusetts Department of Higher Education

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STEM Pipeline Fund

Since 2003, the Department of Higher Education has administered the STEM Pipeline Fund, established in Economic Stimulus Trust Fund legislation. The STEM Pipeline Fund was established in Economic Stimulus legislation for the following purposes:

to increase the number of Massachusetts students who participate in programs that support careers in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM);
to increase the number of qualified STEM teachers; and
to improve the STEM educational offerings available in public and private schools.

WOW Campaign

The WOW Campaign is a public awareness campaign about the exciting career opportunities that exist here in Massachusetts for students who pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) college majors and skills certificates. The campaign is aimed at students, parents and teachers. The WOW campaign video and accompanying poster (.PDF: 5MB) highlight 15 Massachusetts’ STEM professionals who have really interesting STEM careers. These “WOWsters,” as they are referred to, are the face of just some of the exciting careers that await those with strong STEM skills. One or two of the WOWsters are well known Massachusetts personalities!

Request for Proposals: 2012 @Scale Endorsements

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the @Scale Project Initiative to promote projects aimed at increasing K-12 student interest in and readiness for STEM college majors. This RFP calls for:

implementation project proposals from the six projects that were previously endorsed for @Scale, and
new proposals for projects that meet the same @Scale criteria and are ready to implement scale-up projects.

These endorsements are intended to highlight a selected sample of projects that address quantifiable challenges in Student Interest and Student Readiness, two of the goals of the STEM Plan (.PDF), and have strong foundations in research, demonstrated student outcomes, and design characteristics that support scale and replication. The @Scale endorsement by the STEM Council is expected to promote stronger alignment of private sector funding for projects that address the goals of the STEM Plan and can scale up to benefit many students, quickly.

Proposals will be accepted between February 29 and March 16, 2012. We will not consider any proposals received after 4 p.m. on March 16.

>> Read the RFP (.PDF)
>> NEW: Read the FAQs (posted February 28, 2012) (.PDF)
>> Download the RFP, FAQs, and forms (.ZIP)

MA 2011 STEM Summit: Advancing the STEM Agenda Locally & Nationally

The MA 2011 STEM Summit, hosted by the Governor's STEM Advisory Council, Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and University of Massachusetts / UMass Donahue Institute, was held October 18, 2011, in Newton, Massachusetts. The agenda emphasized business/industry issues and involvement, workforce development (including K-12 vocational education), higher education, and connections to national public and private programs. Keynote speakers included William H. Swanson, Chairman and CEO of Raytheon, and Dr. Linda Rosen, CEO of Change the Equation.

>> Conference Program (.PDF: 2 MB)

First Round of @Scale Endorsements Announced

In support of the Massachusetts Statewide STEM Plan (.PDF) , the STEM Operations Board, a sub-committee of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, solicited applications in spring 2011 from current STEM projects for consideration for @Scale Endorsement. For consideration, eligible projects needed to:

Incorporate research-based characteristics for successful project replication or scale-up
Demonstrate a history of success addressing either of the following two gaps:
1. Students who are interested in STEM majors and careers, but are only nearly prepared;
2. Students who are prepared for STEM majors and careers, but are only nearly interested.

The following projects were selected for @Scale Endorsement:

BioTeach
Science Transfer Initiative (Massasoit Community College)
Mass Math + Science Initiative (MassInsight)
The DIGITS Project
Advanced Robotics Intensive (Quinsigamond Community College)
Project Lead The Way

>> More information

Faculty Meet on STEM Agenda

A standing-room-only crowd of Massachusetts public college and university faculty gathered June 7 for a robust discussion of higher education’s role in furthering the statewide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) agenda. Sponsored by the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences and the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, the gathering focused on effective methods to build student interest in and readiness for STEM careers, as well as the importance of aligning course offerings and communication between two and four-year programs.

“Students coming into our higher education system don’t always have a sense of the ‘pathways,’” said David Cedrone, Associate Commissioner for Workforce Development and Executive Director of the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council. “They often don’t know about STEM career opportunities and then they hit a difficult course and say ‘that’s it’ because they don’t have a sense of the end game. It’s critical that faculty members understand these issues and be given opportunities to work toward solutions. This work is essential given the high-skilled nature of Massachusetts’ knowledge-based economy.”

Cedrone described the conference as “day one of a critical collaboration” to advance both the goals of the Commonwealth’s STEM plan and the Vision Project. “Our opportunity now is to coalesce these many contributions into a more aligned strategy and to amplify the leadership voice of our STEM researchers, education researchers, and STEM education faculty to inform and transform how we excite, engage and ensure the success of every student.”

For more on the work of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, visit their website .

STEM Operations Board "Criteria for Identifying Scalable STEM Projects" Released

On March 11, 2011, the STEM Operations Board, a subcommittee of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, released the criteria it will use to inform an assessment of STEM projects for scale-up (“@Scale projects”). These criteria draw upon:

critical gaps and needs as identified through our analyses of STEM themes and state data;
the quantitative goals defined in the Statewide STEM Plan (.PDF) ;
the qualitative goals defined in the Statewide STEM Plan;
research-based characteristics for project scale-up.

The Criteria for Identifying Scalable STEM Projects (.PDF) are being distributed to Regional STEM Network and project leaders for informational purposes. Next the STEM Operations Board will:

prioritize crucial themes based on regional or statewide programmatic and partnership gaps, and informed by analysis of state data;
call for applications of projects that address prioritized needs and demonstrate readiness for scale-up;
screen applications based on the criteria of this document, and assess a limited number of projects that are determined most ready for scale-up;
recommend @Scale projects to the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council for endorsement.

The Governor’s STEM Advisory Council will identify STEM projects to endorse for scale-up; project managers can then seek private funding to support scale-up implementation.

State STEM Plan Released

On Tuesday, September 28, 2010, at the 7th Annual STEM Summit hosted by the University of Massachusetts, Lt. Governor Tim Murray released the state’s first-ever long-term STEM plan titled, “A Foundation for the Future: Massachusetts’ Plan for Excellence in STEM Education – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.” The plan has five goals to get to a level of STEM fluency through a governance system that recognizes the strength of regional networks. David Cedrone, as Executive Director of both the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and the STEM Pipeline Fund, will play a key role in the plan's implementation. To learn about the five state goals and for a full reading of the plan, go to the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council website .

Regional Network Grants

The Department of Higher Education has supported Regional PreK-16 Networks since the inception of the STEM Pipeline Fund. The Networks bring together key stakeholders—K-12, higher education, businesses and community organizations—to collaboratively address regional education and workforce needs. The six current Regional PreK-16 Networks are located in the Berkshire, Central, MetroWest, Northeast, Pioneer Valley and Southeast/Cape & Islands regions of the Commonwealth.

May 2010

In May 2010, the Department of Higher Education extended the 2007 PreK-16 Regional STEM Network three-year grants for another full year prior to their June expiration. In addition to contract extensions, the DHE also gave each network an additional $40,000 to continue network operations. The additional funding allows each network to continue regular meetings, outreach activities, electronic communications, active websites, periodic needs assessments and adjustments in strategic planning.

March 2009

On March 10, 2009, the Department of Higher Education announced five mini-grants totaling $75,000 from the STEM Pipeline Fund. These grants were awarded to teams of mathematics educators to design a set of curriculum modules for use in college mathematics courses for pre-service elementary teachers at the associate, baccalaureate, or post-baccalaureate level. The modules may apply to MTEL preparation workshops and in-service professional development. This initiative intends to foster communication between college mathematics faculty and elementary teachers by requiring them to visit each other’s classes and possibly co-teach some of the modules. Click here to see the five selected teams.

February 2008

On February 19, 2008, the Department of Higher Education announced 10 grants totaling $3.2 million from the STEM Pipeline Fund. The three-year grants were competitively awarded from more than $8 million in requests. Funded projects include student enrichment programs, community outreach and communications programs, career awareness programs, and teacher professional development.

Related Links
Business Higher Education Forum

Business Roundtable

Congressional STEM Education Caucus

Mathematics Preparation for Elementary Teachers