A Conceptual Organizational Framework for Expanding Excellence (COFFEE) in STEM

As a path to promote undergraduate student success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), this paper introduces the Conceptual Organizational Framework for Expanding Excellence (COFFEE), which is informed by the longitudinal adaptation of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at a large, research-intensive historically white institution. Drawing on over a decade of program evaluation and academic research, we articulate how foundational cultural ethos—shared values, STEM community, and affirming multidimensional identity environments—are transversally integrated across the structural, agentic, and academic architecture of institutional practice. The framework advances the literature by positioning core organizational conditions for STEM persistence and excellence. This work offers a theoretically grounded organizational model informed by organizational theory and prior empirical work documenting the ongoing success of a STEM program to guide research, practice, and systemic reform in STEM education.