NSF LSAMP Pre-Alliance Planning: Mapping a Pathway to Increase College Completion of Minority STEM Students to Meet Regional Workforce Needs

路易斯·斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟（LSAMP）项目向机构联盟提供资金，这些机构实施全面、循证和持续的方法，以扩大历史上在STEM中代表性不足的种族/族裔群体（非裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人、美洲印第安人、阿拉斯加原住民、夏威夷原住民和太平洋原住民）学生的参与，主要是在本科阶段。这些方法有助于培养出准备充分的、高素质的、有动力追求STEM研究生教育或职业生涯的学生。从2016财年开始，LSAMP现在接受“联盟前规划拨款”的提议，这些拨款将支持发展伙伴关系和形成新联盟（包括通往学士学位的桥梁）所需的活动所需的规划。这些资助的预期成果包括：(i)机构领导人和合作机构的STEM教师的承诺；（ii）机构间紧密合作的证据；（iii）制定未来联盟的愿景和/或主题；（iv）将导致提交LSAMP（联盟）提案的联盟活动的综合计划。奥罗拉社区学院（领导机构）的最终目标是在丹佛大都会地区建立通往学士学位联盟的桥梁，该学院正在与科罗拉多社区学院系统中的其他四所社区学院合作，以确定如何在个别校园的STEM成功基础上共同努力，并扩大合作学院实施的循证实践。因此，五个合作机构（奥罗拉社区学院、阿拉帕霍社区学院、丹佛社区学院、Front Range社区学院和红石社区学院）在他们提出的“绘制路径”项目中将使用联盟前规划拨款来收集基线数据，确定阻碍STEM中代表性不足的学生进步和毕业的障碍，分析招聘和保留策略以及转学过程。评估支持联盟目标的机构基础设施。

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program provides funding to alliances of institutions that implement comprehensive, evidence-based, and sustained approaches to broadening participation of students from racial/ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders) primarily at the undergraduate level. These approaches facilitate the production of well-prepared students highly-qualified and motivated to pursue graduate education or careers in STEM.Beginning FY2016, LSAMP now accepts proposals for "pre-alliance planning grants" that would support the planning necessary for developing the partnerships and activities required to form new alliances (including Bridge to the Baccalaureate). The expected outcomes of these grants include: (i) commitment from institutional leaders and STEM faculty at partner institutions; (ii) evidence of cohesive partnerships between institutions; (iii) creation of a vision and/or theme for a future alliance; and (iv) comprehensive plans for alliance activities that would lead to the submission of an LSAMP (alliance) proposal.With the ultimate goal of forming a Bridge to the Baccalaureate alliance in the Denver metropolitan area, the Community College of Aurora (lead institution) is partnering with four other community colleges in the Colorado Community College System to determine how to collectively build on the successes in STEM at the individual campuses and expand the evidence-based practices implemented at the collaborating colleges. Thus, the five partner institutions(Community College of Aurora, Arapahoe Community College, the Community College of Denver, Front Range Community College, and Red Rocks Community College) in their proposed "Mapping a Pathway" project will use the pre-alliance planning grant to collect baseline data, identify barriers that are inhibiting the progress and graduation of students underrepresented in STEM, analyze the recruitment and retention strategies as well as transfer processes, and evaluate institutional infrastructure for supporting alliance objectives.