Montclair State University Receives $3 Million Grant to Provide Mental Health Services During Internship Experiences

Montclair State University has been awarded a five-year, $3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Institutional Transformation Project to create a more holistic STEM internship experience for students across the institution.

The project, titled The Effectiveness of Psychoeducational Counseling in STEM Internship and Research Experiences, will be led by an interdisciplinary team and will seek to:

• Increase participation in high-quality STEM experiential learning opportunities across Montclair
• Embed professional group counseling into internships and research experiences to create opportunities with socio-emotional support
• Generate knowledge on the impacts of this counseling intervention on students, faculty mentors and program coordinators at a federally designated HSI.

The project will be led by Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Nina Goodey and a team of co-PIs including PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies (PSEG ISS) Green Teams Director Amy Tuininga, Associate Professor of Counseling Michael Hannon and Dean of Montclair’s College of Science and Mathematics Lora Billings.

The project has strong support from the University’s administration and contributes their HSI expertise as senior personnel. Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Junius Gonzales, brings his expertise in Hispanic students’ mental health and commitment to reduce equity gaps for student achievement and grow student internship and research opportunities. Milton Fuentes, Department of Psychology and MSU Provost’s Higher Education Academic Leadership Fellow, brings to the project a deep understanding of Hispanic students, mental health, and expertise in Latinx, multicultural, and family psychology.

About the Institutional Transformation Project

While students benefit from internship experiences, Tuininga and Goodey were keenly aware of how internships often lacked the elements required for students with a breadth of identities and life experiences to feel a sense of belonging, particularly in STEM fields.

“Mature scientists know that STEM projects often involve setbacks and that embracing these challenges, with responsive support, can lead to persistence and unexpected scientific breakthroughs,” says Goodey. “The magnitude of these challenges can exacerbate psychological distress for all researchers, and particularly those with less experience and who are still adjusting to and embracing their STEM career identities.”

From 2022-2024, they partnered with Hannon to add weekly psychoeducational group counseling sessions for the interns in Montclair’s Green Teams program facilitated by PhD Counseling students, who are professional counselors.

“The PSEG ISS is pleased to lead innovation in best practices for responsive and inclusive internship experiences, like mental health support for young people that is much needed, particularly after COVID,” says Tuininga.

After its success and as part of this project, they plan to expand the services to students in CSAM’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program in the coming years.

Now, the team will work to quantify the impact of group counseling on internship and research participants and expand the program across Montclair with additional support from Montclair’s Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Junius Gonzales.

“Mental health support and education is key to supporting wellness, productivity, and managing stress in both research and education,” says Billings. “This project will empower all students to persist in STEM and holistically prepare them to succeed in the future workforce. Montclair State University is proud to be a leader in quantifying the value of the mental health support services.”

“The inclusion of counseling support for students participating in these internship and research experiences is exactly the kind of proactive, preventative services that all students deserve. The award from the National Science Foundation positions our institution to be innovative in disrupting exclusion in higher education and to be holistically responsive to student needs. We are hopeful that the comprehensive scope of services will be nothing short of transformational for the students, for those of us privileged to engage with and serve them, and for Montclair State University,” says Hannon.

Photo by University Staff Photographer Mike Peters.

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This research is supported by the National Science Foundation HSI Program under Grant No. 2345303, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.