Great Minds CoMPASS Scholar Program | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Great Minds CoMPASS (GMC) or CoMPASS is a scholarship program for low income, academically talented, first-generation students from Worcester Public Schools (WPS) that provides orientation and navigation in attending and graduating from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).

The CoMPASS scholarship (funded by NSF) was designed to provide additional financial support for students who attend WPI with the Great Minds Scholarship. The Great Minds Scholarship is a WPI initiative designed to meet the full demonstrated financial need, up to the cost of tuition and fees, of selected Pell-eligible students enrolled in the Worcester Public Schools who are interested in attending WPI, while the CoMPASS grant funded scholarship covers housing and a meal plan for scholars.

The GMC program comprises of two cohorts (Class of 2024 and 2025) of 10 first-generation STEM scholars with a support team of faculty, staff, and peers. The GMC cohorts have quarterly check-in sessions, opportunities for summer research experiences, professional development sessions, and socials.

GMC Scholars have a network of support at WPI designed to ensure the academic, personal, cultural, and professional success of the students.

This network of support includes but is not limited to:

GMC Scholar Support Team
Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education (ODIME)
Connections Pre-Orientation Program
First Generation Success Program
Academic Advising Office

The NSF grant principal investigators (PIs) Dr. Jessica Rosewitz, Assistant Teaching Professor in Engineering and Dr. Kathy Chen, Executive Director, STEM Education Center, along with the GMC Scholar Support team monitors each of the students’ well-being, academic outcomes, co-curricular activities, campus involvement, and professional development as they matriculate through WPI.

Publications from the NSF CoMPASS grant include:

Building Social Capital for First Generation Students through Intentional Multilayered Mentoring (2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access)
Challenges in Developing a Program for First Generation Students Interrupted by the Pandemic Lightning Talk (2022 North Carolina PKAL Network Virtual Meeting)
Imagining and Co-designing a Supportive College Experience for First Generation Students through an NSF S-STEM Program (2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

Great Minds CoMPASS Scholars Social (November 2022)

Great Minds CoMPASS Scholars Social (November 2022)

Great Minds CoMPASS Scholars Social (November 2022)

Great Minds CoMPASS Scholars Social (November 2022)