California State University Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP) Senior Alliance - Senior Level Alliance

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PROJECT SUMMARY: This project, which responds to NSF Program Solicitation 07-566 (Alliances for Broadening Participation in STEM?LSAMP program element 9133), is a five-year continuation of the California State University-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP) as a Senior-level Alliance. Initiated in 1994, CSU-LSAMP is a statewide program dedicated to broadening participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The current Senior-level CSU-LSAMP includes 22 of the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU). The only CSU campus that is not included is The California Maritime Academy, which is a unique and specialized campus of the CSU. Hence, this project is truly a comprehensive effort of the CSU, the largest system of public higher education in the world, located in the largest and most diverse State in the Nation.Intellectual Merit: As a Senior-level LSAMP project, CSU-LSAMP aims to: (1) continue to enhance student performance, success, and retention in STEM disciplines; as well as maintain or increase baccalaureate degree production, (2) facilitate the transition of community college students in their first year of transfer to a CSU campus through activities that improve the retention rates of transfer students; (3) continue to enhance student interest in research and careers in STEM, as well as enhance the global awareness of CSU-LSAMP students. (4) increase the number of students who are admitted to graduate programs and obtain doctoral degrees in STEM, and (5) document, disseminate, and replicate undergraduate intervention models that increase access to, and success in, STEM baccalaureate degree programs and facilitate undergraduate admissions to STEM graduate programs.The types of activities that are offered to support each objective have consistently been shown to facilitate retention and progression of URM students in STEM, and represent a set of well-established ?best practices?. Notably, the project continues to include the top five LSAMP hallmark activities, which were identified in the Urban Institute?s national study of LSAMP (i.e., research experiences, mentoring, internships, scholarships/ stipends and academic support/tutoring). In addition, in light of the Urban Institute?s finding that LSAMP participants who participated in research were more likely to pursue and complete graduate degrees, this project includes a substantial emphasis on engaging students in research activities. The project also includes a variety of activities designed to opportunities to enhance student qualifications for graduate programs (e.g., GRE preparation, teaching experiences; research presentations, and internships), and collaborates with other student support programs on participating campuses (e.g., McNair and NIH-NIGMS Bridges to the Future programs) and with programs at Ph.D. granting institutions (e.g., AGEP) that share the goal of broadening participation in STEM.Broader Impacts: CSU-LSAMP has contributed substantially to broadening participation of underrepresented minority (URM) groups in STEM disciplines. Over the 14 year history of past CSU-LSAMP projects, the campuses participating in those projects awarded a total of 109,115 STEM baccalaureate degrees. Of these degrees, 18,513 STEM degrees were awarded to students who self declared as members of URM groups, 77,105 STEM degrees were awarded to students who self-declared as not being members of URM groups, and 13,497 STEM degrees were awarded to students who declined to provide race/ethnicity data. Although CSU-LSAMP does not limit participation to URM students or provide URM students preference in admission, the project anticipates that 85-90% of the 1600-2000 STEM students admitted to the project each year will be URM students. CSU-LSAMP also anticipates that, over the course of the project period, URM STEM baccalaureate degree production by the 22 CSU campuses in the Senior-level Alliance will increase from the current year base-line of 1,654 to at least 2,000/year and that the number of URM CSU-LSAMP participants who progress to graduate programs will increase from an estimated base-line of 95/year to 200/year by the end of the project period.