Greater Philadelphia Region LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (Cohort X) Project

Drexel University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

Drexel University, as a representative of the Greater Philadelphia Region Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (Philadelphia AMP), requests Bridge to the Doctorate (BTD) funding for a two-year period for a Cohort X program, to expand and intensify the consortium's on-going efforts to substantially increase the number of qualified African American, Hispanic and Native American (hereafter referred to as "minority") students entering graduate study in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), attaining doctoral degrees, and moving into the professoriate. The Philadelphia AMP represents a diverse alliance of nine institutions consisting of public and private, 2- and 4-year research and non-research, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and majority institutions. The New Jersey Institute of Technology has been selected to host the Bridge to the Doctorate Cohort X activities because of: 1) the key role it has played in the successful development and implementation of the Alliance's BTD Cohort I-IX programs, 2) its institution-wide commitment to diversity in STEM at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and 3) its advancements in the research enterprise. The goals of Philadelphia AMP's Bridge to the Doctorate (Cohort X) project are to: (1) recruit twelve students into Master's or PhD degree programs at the New Jersey Institute of Technology; (2) retain these students through the completion of the Master's or PhD program, providing the Master's students with full qualifications for admission into a highly regarded PhD program in their chosen STEM specialty with full financial support; (3) enable the Master's students' admission and smooth transition into a PhD program; and (4) monitor all student progress through PhD completion into the professoriate and beyond. Intellectual Merit includes management expertise and advancing knowledge and understanding in the STEM fields. The proposed Bridge to the Doctorate (Cohort X) program rests on a solid foundation of partnerships, resources, effective practices and experiences derived from seventeen (17) years of collaboration, cooperation and concerted efforts focused on minority student achievement under the current Philadelphia AMP and Bridge to the Doctorate (BTD) Cohort I-IX programs. In particular, this experience has helped the Alliance's STEM graduate programs mature considerably, to the benefit of all STEM graduate students, not just the BTD Fellows. This synergy, which would continue with the proposed Cohort X program, leverages NSF's investment in a powerful and innovative way. The proposed effort builds upon the existing infrastructure to advance underrepresented minority students into participation in engineering and the sciences at the highest levels. Philadelphia AMP has centered its efforts on catalyzing changes in institutional, departmental, and organizational culture and practices in order to achieve sustainable and significant increases in recruitment, retention, and degree attainment in STEM disciplines for minority students.