Advanced Workshop on Improving the Quality of Proposals from Minority Serving Institutions

Southern University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

Smaller universities including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and American Indian Serving Engineering Institutions (AISEI) often lack resources required to prepare faculty for highly competitive and critically important STEM education research. As a result, many of the faculty are handicapped when they attempt to acquire funding to investigate and implement new educational ideas. Furthermore, this makes the adoption of modern pedagogy and new STEM education ideas difficult at these institutions. Ultimately, it is the students who suffer because they may not receive the benefits of the newest STEM education discoveries. This project is assisting critical schools to develop their STEM faculty so they are better able to compete with larger, resource richer institutions. Stronger STEM faculty will translate to stronger universities and to more and stronger STEM graduates. The project builds on prior research and incorporates previously successful faculty development activities. The work is also informed by an elite group of university deans who provided input to the project design. Outcomes are being assessed using an external evaluator and will be widely disseminated.