Louis Stokes STEM Pathways and Research Alliances: The Illinois LSAMP STEM Pathway and Research Alliance (ILSPRA)

Chicago State University, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program is an alliance-based program. The program's theory is based on the Tinto model for student retention. The overall goal of the program is to assist universities and colleges in diversifying the nation's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce by increasing the number of STEM baccalaureate degrees and postbaccalaureate participants in STEM graduate studies to populations historically underrepresented in these disciplines: African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ILSAMP), led by Chicago State University (CSU), is reorganized to consist of a diverse group of 15 public and private universities, community colleges and non-academic organizations in urban and rural settings within the state of Illinois. In addition to CSU, four-year institutions include DePaul University (DPU), Governors State University (GSU), Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE), University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS). The participating two-year institutions are Prairie State College (PSC), Malcolm X College (MXC), Morton College (MC) and Saint Augustine College (SAC). The two non-academic sector partners consist of Argonne National Laboratory and the Field Museum of Natural History. Broadening participation research will be conducted to further strengthen the LSAMP model. Findings from the project will be disseminated broadly via the Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence in Broadening Participation (LSMRCE), via scholarly journals and STEM conferences nationally and internationally. By the end of the 5-year project the ILSPRA will significantly increase the number of URM students graduating with STEM degrees and joining the STEM workforce or matriculating into STEM graduate programs. Additionally, new knowledge will be generated through the implementation of key elements of innovative programming such as the Learning Assistant (LA) model across the alliance. The ILSPRA project team will implement three primary objectives:1) Provide academic,professional and social activities to increase URM students' engagement, retention, and progress in STEM baccalaureate degree programs, 2) Provide opportunities during the critical transition junctures to support URM student from two-year to four-year institutions and from four-year institutions into STEM graduate programs or workforce, and 3) Develop and disseminate innovative STEM mentoring models based on the academic, personal, and professional experiences of URM STEM students and mentors in this ILSPRA program. The Governing Board, made up of the Presidents or other senior administrators from the alliance partner institutions, will provide the buy-in and the institutional clout for their respective institutions. 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.