LSAMP BD:Howard University Washington Baltimore Hampton Roads

Howard University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce through the development of highly competitive students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African-Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. The goal of the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity is to increase the quantity and quality of STEM graduate students from underrepresented populations, with emphasis on Ph.D. matriculation and completion. BD programs implemented in the nation's institutions of higher education contribute to addressing one of the objectives in NSF's 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, namely to foster the growth of a more capable and diverse research workforce and advance the scientific and innovation skills of the Nation. The vision of this grant is to provide a national model to produce underrepresented scientists and engineers with doctoral degrees in STEM. Howard University will be the host site for the 2018-2020 Washington Baltimore Hampton Road Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate Program. Drawing upon its historical prowess of being the leading institution in the country that graduates African Americans with advanced degrees, and the number one producer of minority engineers and scientists. Howard University seeks to implement activities that focus on mentoring, professional writing, and classroom teaching experiences, which will support the development of competitive doctoral candidates historically underrepresented in STEM. These activities will be enhanced by the support of the Graduate School Office of Retention, and the Mentoring and Support and Preparing Future Faculty programs. Additionally, relationships between the extant Howard University NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate project will be established and leveraged to further increase the benefit to BD scholars. The BD project at Howard University will be an important step in advancing the career awareness and preparation of underrepresented minority students in STEM and their access to career opportunities as they progress in their educational pursuits. 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.