AGEP: FACES: Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit: The FACES program is a significant ongoing commitment by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College to increase the national representation of minorities (URMs) in the engineering and the sciences professoriate. The program is comprised of several components, and the aggregate program addresses each critical step along the path to an academic career. To provide a mechanism for the early recruitment of students into research and academic careers, FACES will establish a Research Careers Office at Morehouse College. Furthermore, undergraduates who have completed their sophomore year are provided summer and academic year research experiences as a means of promoting their interest in research and graduate school attendance. These students are then encouraged to enroll in graduate programs using a series of recruitment efforts at national events such as the NSBE Annual Convention or Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), campus visits and tours, and a lecture/workshop series on the merit of graduate school and careers in academia. Admitted Georgia Tech and Emory graduate students are supported on doctoral fellowship supplements throughout their matriculation. Graduate student support is provided by means of a stipend which increases in value as the student meets the critical milestones along the way toward the Ph.D. Another portion of these funds is used to support travel to technical meetings for research presentations. Finally, senior doctoral students compete for Career Initiation Grants, which they may use as start-up funds to assist in establishing their research programs in their initial academic appointments. Assessment of program outcomes will be performed annually. Broader Impact: This program is a blending of the resources of these universities to focus specifically on increasing the production of URMs who earn engineering and science doctoral degrees. This proposal has been initiated by African American faculty who are committed to this goal and recognize that success breeds success. Recruiting, mentoring and academic support programs initiated by Georgia Tech, Emory, Morehouse and Spelman have been quite successful in increasing retention, grades, and overall production of URM degree candidates. Our partnership has created a pipeline of successful African American undergraduates and this proposal describes a doctoral-focused program that builds on the successful undergraduate efforts. As one of the leading producers of minority engineers and scientists, this alliance is ideally positioned to increase the national production of African American students who earn doctorates and promote their representation in academic careers. With the assistance of NSF funding to keep the program elements in place, FACES will continue to provide a mechanism to "change the face" of the national engineering and science professoriate, substantially improving the current dearth of underrepresented engineering and science faculty.