LOUIS STOKES B2B ALLIANCE: Metro Denver STEM Alliance - Strengthening URM Student Pathways to College & Careers

Community College Of Aurora, Aurora CO

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in their efforts to significantly increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to diversify the STEM workforce. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences in support of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. These strategies facilitate the production of well-prepared students highly-qualified and motivated to pursue graduate education or careers in STEM. For the United States (U.S.) to remain globally competitive, it is vital that it taps into the talent of all its citizens and provides exceptional educational preparedness in STEM areas that underpin the knowledge-based economy. The Metro Denver STEM Alliance (MDSA), a LSAMP Bridge to the Baccalaureate Alliance project led by the Community College of Aurora and in partnership with four community colleges - Arapahoe Community College, Community College of Denver, Front Range Community College, and Red Rocks Community College - was formed in response to the need for a more diverse and skilled technical workforce. That need still exists and is particularly acute in the State of Colorado. MDSA will build on research-based models which have proven successful in improving degree completion outcomes for underrepresented minority (URM) STEM students through a focus on engagement, capacity building and continuity. This focus supports the National Science Foundation's strategic goal to "cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce, and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens." In support of the focus, the Alliance will engage targeted students in STEM exposure, career and degree planning activities; enhance students' capacity to apply STEM knowledge and skills through project-based learning, hands-on workshops, and undergraduate research experiences; and promote students' continuity through accelerated math remediation, STEM degree progress tracking and coaching, and four-year STEM baccalaureate transfer support. The Alliance will result in systemic support to URM students from their entrance into community college, throughout their foundational STEM coursework, and to four-year institution transfer, with ultimate engagement in a successful STEM career. Each strategy adopted by the Alliance is based on best practices for cultivating students' knowledge, skills, and transfer readiness, and informed by an equity approach in which the partner institutions recognize the need to create the conditions in which URM students can succeed. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.