LSAMP BD: University of South Florida Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP)

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

According to the U.S. Census Bureau by the year 2020 more than half of the nation's children will come from minority racial and ethnic groups. In response to these changing demographics, a recent report by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has addressed the need to increase the participation of individuals from historically underrepresented groups in science and engineering to help maintain this nation's global leadership in technology and innovation and advance national prosperity. The University of South Florida (USF) will serve as the 2019-2021 Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) institutional site for the NSF Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP). This FGLSAMP BD Project seeks to build upon both FGLSAMP's prior successes and USF's preeminence as a global research university by institutionalizing evidence-based practices in the academic and social integration, comprehensive scholar development, and professionalization in the sciences of graduate students from historically underrepresented groups. The 2019-2021 FGLSAMP BD Activity will facilitate increased intellectual exchange and promote greater diversity and inclusion across all USF STEM departments. The overarching aim of this cohort will be to ensure that 100 percent of FGLSAMP BD fellows complete their STEM PhD within five years after entering their doctoral programs. Through "lesson learned" from seven prior BD site awards and partnerships with four USF Colleges, the Office of Graduate Studies, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Florida Education Fund's McKnight Doctoral Fellowship program, USF has been recognized as a national leader in minority STEM graduate education. Measurable objectives for the 2019-2021 USF FGLSAMP BD Activity will include: 1) recruiting twelve (12) LSAMP former participants as fellows by fall 2019 into STEM graduate programs (MS or PhD); 2) providing faculty-mentored research-training for all fellows throughout their two-year NSF fellowship tenure; 3) initiating professional development activities to facilitate competitive Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) applications from BD fellows and FGLSAMP undergraduate scholars within the Alliance; 4) supporting the 100 percent transition of USF FGLSAMP BD fellows into STEM PhD programs through interactions with supportive role model scientists and LSAMP undergraduate scholars; and 5) fostering greater inclusion within STEM graduate departments with new faculty and graduate student mentor training initiatives. 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.