Analysis of WEST impacts and outcomes

Analysis of outcomes from ISEE's community college transfer student program: Workshops for Engineering and Science Transfers (WEST) 

Project team: Rafael Palomino (Leader), Lisa Hunter

ISEE’s Workshops for Engineering and Science Transfers (WEST) program is aimed at supporting community college transfer students in their transition to a UC, and helping them integrate into the UCSC STEM community. Our goal is to aid  in increasing transfer student STEM persistence at UCSC.  

ISEE R&D team conducted analysis of institutional data collected for 2007 - 2014 participants and found evidence that transfer students who participate in WEST persist in STEM at a higher rate than non-WEST participant students majoring in STEM fields. In addition to measuring STEM persistence in WEST participants, this project endeavors to study the mechanisms that drive differences in persistence that arise from the various workshop components.  

An analysis of open-ended survey responses from prior years’ WEST program is being analyzed, and a new survey was developed for the current cohort. These two data sets will be combined to identify effective program components and support the argument that WEST provides transfer students with a unique experience that is both valued by participants and effective for improving retention of diverse students in STEM.

The team will create products that communicate WEST outcomes on interventions and foster university transfer student success.