UT System LSAMP: A Model Senior Alliance

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

The primary goal of the University of Texas System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation is to increase the quantity and quality of underrepresented minority (URM) students that pursue and earn degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the state of Texas and the nation. The Alliance, which is comprised of nine universities and five community colleges, has promoted STEM education at undergraduate and graduate levels and directly supported 1,565 undergraduate students. More than 90% of these LSAMP scholars have already graduated from UT system institutions with bachelor's degrees, and many of the remaining students are currently enrolled and making satisfactory progress toward their undergraduate degrees in STEM. The LSAMP has demonstrated how collaborative efforts can reap large rewards and serve as an impressive example of a state-wide commitment to improving enrollment, retention, performance, and graduation of underrepresented groups that traditionally have not had access to higher education. The UT System LSAMP will expand its membership to 16 institutions by including two additional large community college systems to continue its state-wide work by: - Enhancing the Summer Research Academy to ensure that a significant number of URM students, including veteran students, participate in a sequence of research experiences in various STEM fields, starting with on-campus training and culminating with a summer undergraduate research exchange, a national laboratory research experience, or a research abroad capstone. - Through close collaboration among partnering community colleges and universities, ensuring that a majority of co-enrolled URM students complete their STEM associate degrees in their two-year institutions and advance toward and later earn their bachelor's degrees in their four-year institutions. - Creating synergistic activities among closely related NSF funded projects (including but not limited to S-STEM, STEP, REU, and AGEP) at each one of the Alliance's partnering institutions to create pathways to success for URM STEM students. Intellectual Merit. The proposed activities, centered on a set of interconnected undergraduate research experiences, will advance knowledge and understanding of the academic factors that enable URM students to successfully earn STEM degrees. The leadership team of the project includes a competent and diverse group of administrators, faculty, and professional staff who are fully committed to the notion of broader higher education participation, early talent development, and excellence in performance. The Alliance institutions will ensure that the project is successfully completed and that its most effective components are sustained beyond the term of the grant. An external evaluator will provide an impartial periodic assessment of the project to drive the decision making cycle for systematic improvements. Broader Impacts. The core research activities in which LSAMP scholars are engaged serve the purpose of training them to advance discovery and understanding and also to promote further depth of learning. The proposed activities broaden the participation of underrepresented minorities and veterans and, in many instances, low-income first-generation college students. Results of this effort will be disseminated broadly through journal and conference publications, as well as regional and national presentations. The general benefit to society is the development of a diverse STEM workforce that is globally competitive and truly representative of the nation?s 21st century demographics.