LSAMP BD: Florida International University FGLSAMP

Florida International University, Miami FL

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce by developing highly competitive students from populations underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, 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 PhD matriculation and completion. BD programs implemented in the nation's institutions of higher education contribute to addressing one of the objectives of 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. The performance site for this LSAMP BD Activity is Florida International University (FIU), one of the fourteen colleges and universities included in the Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP). The project will recruit a cohort of 12 qualified LSAMP fellows and support them financially, academically, and socially through their graduate program using an innovative and flexible structure that is individualized to the plans and needs of the fellow. In addition to providing substantial financial support to enable students to focus full time on graduate-level course work and research, the project offers a mentoring education and training program to build diverse mentor-mentee alliances; a multi-tiered Professional Development Program to create opportunities for learning, professional socialization and peer support; and opportunities for STEM outreach through Miami Dade College STEM Mia program as well as other FIU and community-based initiatives. Through the national recruitment of LSAMP students and the implementation of academic intervention strategies that have previously fostered high levels of achievement among both undergraduates and graduate students, the FGLSAMP BD activity at FIU will contribute to diversifying the US STEM workforce and the training of the next generation of global leaders in STEM. 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.