PROMOTING GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AT NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The STEM Technician: NVCC is instituting a new degree program to advance opportunities for students seeking employment in STEM with an Associate of Applied Science Degree. The program will provide a baseline of courses required by all STEM Technician students plus coursework in their chosen STEM field, geology included. The program looks to employers in our area as partners to provide internship and employment opportunities for our well-trained students. An early prototype of this program in geology has led to seven internships/part-time employment opportunities for NVCC students.
The Learning Assistant Alliance: NVCC is a partner with near-by George Mason University (GMU) in the Learning Assistant Alliance program that identifies students with the interest and potential to transfer to GMU to complete an Earth Science Education program to include secondary school teaching licensure. The program provides NVCC students with the opportunity to assist instructors in the classroom as paid “Learning Assistants” with the goal of allowing these students to gain early exposure to “what it means to be a teacher.” The Learning Assistant Alliance is a nationwide program sponsored by the University of Colorado Boulder. This project is supported by the National Science Foundation.
Attracting Geoscience Majors through advanced coursework and research: NVCC offers a wide variety of classroom and field courses including a transferrable Mineralogy course and research methods classes taught in partnership with the USGS in Reston, VA to provide community college students with internship, employment and research opportunities. Ongoing research includes detailed petrographic analysis of the Neoproterozoic-aged basement rock of the USGS Bayside drill core from the annular trough of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure.