Louis Stokes New STEM Pathways Implementation-Only Alliance: The Bridges Across Texas Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation

Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce through their efforts at significantly increasing the numbers of students from historically underrepresented minority (URM) populations to successfully complete high-quality degree programs in STEM. The Bridges Across Texas LSAMP (BAT-LSAMP) is a collaboration with five Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) of higher education- Texas Tech University (TTU), the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNTD), Dallas College El Centro Campus (DCECC), South Plains College (SPC), and Texas Southmost College (TSC). This collaboration represents a demographically diverse and geographically large region that lacked LSAMP support in a state with a growing number of STEM-based career needs and a rapidly changing demographic. BAT-LSAMP is a five-year cross-institutional project that includes innovative and evidence-based strategies to overcome the identified barriers inhibiting the persistence and success of students from underrepresented ethnic groups in STEM. The project objectives are to (1) double the URM baccalaureate degree graduates in STEM disciplines, and (2) increase the number of URM transfers in STEM disciplines. These objectives will be achieved by establishing an interactive, virtually linked network of STEM Centers at each partner institution and implementing high-impact practices, guided by the Sense of Belonging framework, to increase STEM URMs’ access to and participation in advising, mentoring, STEM-focused resources, and developmental resources for social and peer support. By the end of the project period, BAT-LSAMP will have made a transformational impact on a large number of students across the state, and cross-institutional knowledge will be gained about effective and sustainable strategies to facilitate seamless transitions that will strengthen URM persistence and success in STEM, thereby increasing retention and graduation. Dissemination of results and lessons learned will take a multi-prong approach including traditional avenues of information dissemination, i.e., publications, conference presentations and social media and via STEMinars which will be recorded and posted on the BAT-LSAMP website. 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.