Indiana University of Pennsylvania has received $2 million from the National Science Foundation to help academically talented and financially challenged students earn data science degrees.
Spanning six years and starting in spring 2026, the project, Experiential Pathways and Networks for Data Science (EXPANDS) Opportunities Scholarship program, will support 36 scholars, with particular focus on transfer students from regional and partner community colleges, to transition to IUP to complete bachelor’s and graduate degrees in data sciences.
The grant proposal was authored by John Chrispell, professor of mathematics in IUP’s Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, working with department faculty members Frederick Adkins, Samuel Grieggs, Yu-Ju Kuo, and Valerie Long.
In addition to the IUP-based team, four alumni of IUP’s Data Science and Applied Mathematics master’s program—now faculty at the four partner community colleges—will serve as key personnel.
The partner community colleges and IUP alumni faculty are John Float ’12, associate professor of mathematics, Community College of Allegheny County; Matt Love ’12, assistant professor of mathematics, Westmoreland County Community College; Madhu Motha ’03, professor in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at Butler County Community College; and Marie Polka ’97, associate professor of mathematics at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College.
“This is an incredible opportunity for talented students who want to achieve a bachelor’s or advanced degree in the data sciences,” dean of the IUP John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Steve Hovan said. “It’s also a win for the workforce, as there is a significant shortage of data scientists, and analysts predict a continued demand for employees in this field,” he said.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 35 percent growth in data science occupations from 2022 to 2032.
“Congratulations to Dr. Chrispell, Dr. Adkins, Dr. Grieggs, Dr. Kuo, and Dr. Long for their work to secure this grant and for their commitment to student success and innovation,” Hovan said. “We also are very excited to partner with our alumni at our partner community colleges for this project.”
The project projects that 27 of the EXPANDS scholars will earn both undergraduate and master’s degrees, while four will receive undergraduate and five will receive master’s degrees.
Work is underway to develop “course maps” for all relevant programs for the EXPANDS scholars, especially for first-year students and sophomores, to best position them for success in transferring to IUP.
In addition to the scholarship support, following best practices and proven successes related to retention of students in STEM, the program will provide the students with faculty mentoring while participating in master classes with field practitioners; workshops focused on core data science skills and on career exploration; team-based challenges and competitions, designed to help students develop novel solutions to real-world data science problems; and scholar gatherings to expand their social networks, including a weekly UNITE Seminar designed to connect scholars with one another and with faculty.
The faculty program directors also will conduct research about the impact of a data science learning community and team-based competitions on students’ professional identity, critical thinking, and real-world problem-solving skills. A comparative study examining the progress and success of the EXPANDS scholars versus control groups is expected to provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of programming elements and be a useful tool for measuring professional development in this specific STEM discipline.
“This approach to studying the interplay between learning communities, competitions, and student outcomes has the potential to significantly inform future strategies for enhancing data science education and workforce development,” Chrispell said.
The project is designed to transform the data science landscape at IUP and across western Pennsylvania through strategic initiatives that build both talent and infrastructure.
“By supporting a generation of academically talented students, the project creates a direct pipeline of data science professionals and establishes IUP as a data science hub by creating a collaborative ecosystem connecting regional universities, industry partners, the experts leading the master classes, and the community colleges,” Chrispell said.
“The innovative curriculum emphasizing competitions, embedded research experiences, and interdisciplinary projects also enhances IUP’s departmental culture and establishes a model for other institutions to follow. This approach will enhance student engagement, improve retention, and create more data science STEM graduates,” he said.
EXPANDS follows Kuo and Adkins’ National Science Foundation-funded Scholarships – Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics (S-COAM) project at IUP. This $997,000 funded initiative was in place from 2018 to 2024, focusing on increasing the number of STEM undergraduates pursuing a mathematics degree or minor, enhancing their preparation for the workforce and future studies, and improving retention of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in mathematical areas.
Over its six years, the S-COAM program provided scholarships for 22 academically talented, low-income graduate students, with 77 percent of them graduating with a master of science degree in data science and applied mathematics, and scholarships for 87 undergraduate students, with 72 percent of them graduating or continuing their studies in a STEM field. A total of 109 students took advanced mathematics courses as a result of the program, enhancing their preparation for the workforce and further studies.
About the Expands IUP Project Faculty
John Chrispell’s research program involves mathematical modeling of real-world situations. As a community college PELL grant recipient who pursued a STEM degree, Chrispell’s pathway to an advanced degree parallels that of the one proposed for EXPANDS scholars. He served as the graduate coordinator for the Master of Science in Applied Mathematics program, co-wrote the new Master of Science in Data Science and Applied Math curriculum, and is an advisor for undergraduate students majoring in applied math with a focus on data science.
Valerie Long will serve as the EXPANDS educational researcher. Her path largely mirrors EXPANDS’ target demographic and the project’s rationale, as she started at a community college, then attended a four-year institution that did not have her major, secondary math education, but allowed her to take math courses and other coursework, then transferred again to a university where she completed a degree after earning a merit-based scholarship that fully supported junior- and senior-year tuition.
Frederick Adkins is the director of the IUP STEAMSHOP, a state-of-the-art rapid prototyping and fabrication laboratory, where he oversees industry-focused projects and mentors students in real-world application development.
Yu-Ju Kuo was a Fulbright Scholar in Bhutan, where she developed and taught the first machine learning course for Sherubtse College.
Samuel Grieggs brings multidisciplinary and multimodal applied machine learning expertise and has unique mentorship insight as a 2017 IUP computer science graduate.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025 and through the Impact 150 comprehensive campaign, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking to its next 150 years of student success, innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.