STEM offers students a variety of challenging and rewarding careers to choose from. Many STEM fields are booming right now and boast rapid job growth and large starting salaries for those that can make the cut. Any student who has taken a 200 level STEM course can attest to the relative difficulty of these classes. Due to such an incredibly high demand for these kinds of workers, and the difficulty producing them, government and private money has been invested in the form of scholarships and grants to help encourage students to explore these areas of study. The STEM program at CAC is fully funded by a five year federal HSI (Hispanic Serving Institutions) STEM grant. This grant provides the STEM program with over three million dollars.

Becoming a part of the STEM program has numerous benefits including: free use of textbooks, free loaning of graphing calculators and iPads, free MyLabsPlus and MatLab codes, as well as access to exclusive events available only to students in the STEM program. At the time of writing this article, the next upcoming event planned for STEM students is a day trip to go tour ASU’s new polytechnic campus. Having attended previous events with the STEM program,I can personally attest to the differences between going and touring a campus with a STEM tour versus just the regular tour. These STEM campus tours give students a more in depth look into what the college offers for your specific area of study.

Another big benefit of becoming a part of the STEM program is an advisor who is knowledgeable about STEM, Carrie McIntyre. Ms. McIntyre has been involved in several other positions during her time at CAC, including working in the testing center and as an online advisor. For those looking to transfer to university, having an advisor who can help you along the way to ensure that the courses you are taking will actually transfer is invaluable.

Who is eligible for STEM? Students who are even just contemplating a STEM oriented career are eligible as long as they are taking STEM related coursework such as: CIS courses in networking or programming, Mathematics, Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. CAC offers several different STEM degree pathways which can be found under student resources on the college website. Students who are eligible, think they are eligible, or even those who are just interested in learning more regarding what STEM is all about are highly encouraged to speak with Carrie McIntyre to learn more. Students can stop by her office which is located at the Signal Peak campus in room S-107C, give her a call at 520-494-5019, or send her an email [email protected] (document.currentScript) {