Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Phase IV

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary The underrepresentation of minorities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce remains a national problem fourteen years after the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program. By all accounts, however, great progress has been made as indicated by the consistent trend of increasing enrollment and baccalaureate STEM degrees by underrepresented minorities (URM) in the LSAMP program since the beginning of the program in 1991. Figures show that baccalaureate degrees awarded at LSAMP institutions increased from 3,914 in 1991 to over 24,000 in 2004, and URM enrollment increased from 35,000 to over 200,000 as the number of LSAMP sites increased from 6 to 35. As one of the six oldest NSF alliances in the nation, Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ALSAMP) has been at the forefront of efforts to increase the quantity and the quality of underrepresented minorities receiving baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields. The alliance has made outstanding progress in increasing enrollment and undergraduate degree production and changing the culture in STEM education at member institutions. With this experience, successful Phase I-Phase III awards and three Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) awards, the alliance is poised to undertake a Phase IV proposal to completely sustain the project by the end of NSF funding. To do this a team effort involving all member institutions and chief academic officers was needed. In preparation for the LSAMP Phase IV application, each alliance member was asked to identify particular campus programs for inclusion in the phase IV proposal and strategies and resources for sustaining those efforts after NSF support ends. In addition, the ALSAMP Principal Investigator met in Atlanta, Georgia, with Dr. Ansley Abraham, Director, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Doctoral Scholars Program, to solicit support for the proposed efforts from that organization. Information and application material regarding minority fellowships were also solicited from the Ford Foundation, NSF and other agencies. An executive committee meeting was then held to discuss the programs and recommendations for sustainability. This proposal grew out of the discussions at this meeting. ALSAMP currently has a variety of student support programs designed to meet the needs of undergraduate students, as well as students at the high school to college and the college to graduate school junctions in the academic pipeline. Over the period of the ALSAMP Phase IV award, these programs will be sustained and institutionalized. The ALSAMP program sustainability is divided into two parts; undergraduate student programs and BD student programs. Undergraduate student programs include scholarship support, mentors, research conferences and graduate school preparation activities. BD student programs include fellowship and other support. Details on how each partner institution will sustain the project on their campus as well as how alliance-wide programs and the BD programs will be sustained are included in the proposal. These efforts will include SREB, the Ford Foundation, the NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and others. Intellectual Merit - The project is an important step in advancing knowledge and understanding of the factors involved in assisting minority students in the attainment of baccalaureate degrees in science technology, engineering and mathematics and bridging the gap between college and graduate school. In addition, important knowledge on the process for achieving sustainability will be provided as a model for other similar projects. The project results will add to the knowledge base in educational and evaluation. Broader Impacts - The project broadens the participation of underrepresented groups by the inclusion of a large number of minority students in the target population for the program. In addition, a large number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities are included in the Alabama alliance, and the project efforts will involve a diverse pool of students and faculty. Discovery and understanding are advanced by the collaboration between disciplines and institutions. Evaluation and assessment findings will be documented and disseminated to other researchers in education and at national meetings.