By Hannah Wilmot

St. Michael’s College has received its largest S-STEM Grant for almost one million dollars which will               benefit 20 incoming students who want to combine STEM disciplines as they move forward but who need financial assistance for college. The grant is not effective immediately because it is not applied to anyone that is currently a St. Michael’s student.

The student amount per year is up to $10,000 but is dependent upon need and may vary, said Greta Pangborn, professor of computer science, an investigator of the grant.

The first S in S-STEM stands for Scholarship, while the term STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, which are the main focus subjects of the grant itself. The grant, given by the National Science Foundation will help students with a strong focus in any STEM eld mix a variety of disciplines together for better learning and to create a broader range of job opportunities after graduating.

“The goal of the funding on a national level is to simply increase participation in science, and extend opportunities to people who possibly could not afford to get in science,” said professor Declan J. McCabe, who is an investigator of the grant. “At Saint Mike’s, we would like to increase the overlap between the math department and the life sciences. For example, if you are a biology major, and you were to go and add minor in math, or a double major in math, you would be eligible for the funding.”

The beneficiaries of the grant will have broader and more exciting opportunities available to them than they might have originally imagined coming to St. Michael’s College as first year students, said Ellis-Monaghan.

Students who are in this STEM program will have dual advisors. One in the life sciences and one in the quantitative field said Ellis-Monaghan. “We are looking forward to those closer relationships between the departments.”