A Partnership in Observational and Computational Astronomy II

South Carolina State University, Orangeburg SC

Investigators

Abstract

The underrepresentation of minorities in STEM fields is one of the major challenges facing the United States workforce. Recognizing this problem, the "New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics" Decadal Survey, published by the National Academies, noted that a promising way to address this problem is to encourage strategic partnerships between minority-serving institutions and research universities, national centers, and national laboratories. This award will continue support for one such partnership: a multi-faceted collaboration between South Carolina State University (SCSU), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) with a 94% African-American student body, together with Clemson University (CU) and other individual investigators. The mission of the partnership is to increase diversity in astronomy by (1) strengthening the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities into graduate programs in astronomy in general and into CU in particular, (2) providing a strong mentoring program that includes enhancing students? research skills, and (3) boosting faculty involvement in astronomy research at SCSU. By the end of this program, it is expected that a long-term partnership between SCSU, CU, and others will be formed, which will provide a sustainable pipeline for minority students in astronomy.