California LSAMP Phase IV

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

CAMP Summary The Louis Stokes California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) a ?Phase III? Alliance funded by the National Science Foundation, is a prime University of California initiative to diversity the student population and the future faculty. Phase IV will continue the grant, HRD No. 0115115. UC Irvine serves as the lead campus and fiscal agent, under the established cooperative agreement. The primary goal of the eight UC campus partners (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Diego and Riverside) is to significantly increase the number of B.S. degrees granted to undererepresented minority students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) majors at the University of California and to prepare these students competitively for the nations top graduate schools. This is accomplished through shared best practices, networking, and a cultural change in the campus climate. CAMP represents a systemwide community of UC faculty, program staff, and students working toward a set of shared goals, including not only B.S. degree completion but continuation on to graduate school, completion of the Ph.D., and entry into the scientific and engineering workplace. This collective effort has contributed to a 78% increase in B.S. degrees granted by UC from the baseline year (1990-91), for a total of 12,396 bachelors degrees awarded to date to underrepresented minorities by UC. In addition to faculty mentored research experiences and peer mentoring and tutoring, principal activities include collaborative learning, presenting at scientific conferences, science writing and co-authorship, technology proficiency, and preparation for advanced degrees. Graduate education is currently supported by the supplemental activity, Bridge to the Doctorate, which currently has three cohorts, hosted respectively at UCLA, UCI, and UC San Diego. The Bridge Fellows represent a robust effort to encourage and support minority graduate education and completion of the doctorate. The Bridge to the Doctorate also represents the foundation for continuing the AMP program into Phase IV.