STEM Core @Northern
SIGN UP FOR STEM Core @Northern! Get started now on your career in computer science, information technology or electromechanical engineering!
STEM CORE @NORTHERN is a learning community of students taking classes together with support from a specialist focused on your success. We are here to help you reach your goals.
Are you ready for…Intermediate Algebra or College Algebra?
Do you want to…study with a group of motivated, hard-working students and get extra support?
Then join STEM Core! Get on the fast track to a fun, challenging, meaningful and highly paid career, and increase your chances to earn a paid internship with a local employer!
Why choose a STEM Career?
- Number of STEM jobs will grow 50% faster than non-STEM jobs over the next 10 years
- The average STEM job pays more than $40 an hour.
- 93% of STEM professionals earn more than the national average.
- The eight highest-paying entry-level jobs are in computer science, engineering and math.
- Great local job opportunities with the national labs and other employers.
What degrees can I earn? Choose your path toward an engineering or a computer science/information technology degree.
- Associate and Bachelor's degrees in
- Information Engineering Technology or Electromechanical Engineering
Benefits of STEM Core for students:
- Learn in group study and group workshops
- Get academic and career advising
- Receive academic and non-academic support
- Save a semester of math study
- Become calculus-ready by the end of the first year
- Hear from guest speakers from local business and industry
- Explore careers so you can find the best job fit for your skills
- Visit four-year universities. By starting at NNMC, you save big $$$ toward a bachelor’s degree.
- Get help applying for paid internships with regional employers, such as Los Alamos National Labs
Click to download flyer.
More about STEM Core
STEM Core is an NSF Includes alliance of colleges what works closely with adjacent national laboratories to build a diverse STEM pipeline.
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Core vision is to create a pathway bringing students, including underrepresented and underprepared students, to a foundational skill level required for A.S., B.S., and industry employment in STEM fields. In our NSF INCLUDES Alliance efforts, we reach out to groups that are in underrepresented in STEM fields in order to achieve the goal of increasing diversity and productivity in the Nation's STEM workplace.
The STEM Core is an educational model that uses a cohort-based, accelerated and contextualized math course sequence to move students from intermediate algebra to calculus-readiness in two semesters. The model is built upon five best practices:
- Accelerated and contextualized learning: Students are placed in a program that includes 3-4 math courses over 2 semesters encompassing intermediate algebra through pre-calculus, co-developed by math, engineering and computer science faculty to integrate academic and applied learning. Research shows that accelerated strategies such as this are an effective learning strategy, particularly at the lower levels of math.
- STEM technical skills training: Students will participate in workshops and/or classes that provide an introduction to computer science and/or engineering through hands-on, project-based learning while also reflecting academic applications from linked math coursework in order to meet employer skill demands;
- Block-scheduled, cohort-based learning communities: STEM Core students will move through the program as a cohort, jointly experiencing academic, technical and work-based learning opportunities, which increases retention of remedial students by promoting peer learning, teamwork, self-efficacy, and study skill development;
- Wraparound academic and social support: STEM Core cohorts will be provided with a Student Support Specialist dedicated to student success. The Student Support Specialist will sit in on classes, meet individually with students to set goals and address issues impeding their success, facilitate study skill workshops, convene faculty, and facilitate work-based learning opportunities including employer field trips, guest speakers, and internships;
- Paid industry internships: Research supports a connection between internships and STEM participation and retention, and STEM Core model implementers believe internship experiences are critical to building a STEM pipeline. Current internship partners include Lawrence Livermore National Labs and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with many more partners becoming involved every year.
