Louis Stokes STEM Pathways Implementation-Only Alliance: Southern Nevada Northern Arizona

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The overall goal of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program is to assist universities and colleges in diversifying the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce by increasing the number of STEM baccalaureate and graduate degrees awarded to persons from LSAMP populations LSAMP populations are defined as persons from groups underrepresented in the STEM enterprise: Blacks and African-Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. The LSAMP Program priorities are to (a) increase individual student retention and progression to baccalaureate degrees for underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, (b) enable successful transfer of underrepresented students from 2-year to 4-yearinstitutions in STEM programs (c) increase access to high quality undergraduate research experiences, and (d) facilitate seamless transition of underrepresented students into STEM graduate programs. The Southern Nevada Northern Arizona LSAMP (SNNA-LSAMP) is an alliance of higher education institutions that includes research universities (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Northern Arizona University) and community colleges (College of Southern Nevada and Coconino Community College) in the Lower Colorado River Basin. SNNA-LSAMP's goal is to increase substantially the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students who earn science, technology, engineering, and technology (STEM) baccalaureate degrees at alliance institutions within five years.SNNA-LSAMP will provide services and activities that bolster the academic performance, persistence, and graduation rates of students underrepresented in STEM at alliance institutions. Specifically, SNNA-LSAMP will provide these students with intensive, near-peer mentoring; out-of-class STEM activities that enhance socialization of STEM disciplines; undergraduate research opportunities; internships; registration for enrollment in STEM courses; and access to all academic support services provided on alliance campuses. Furthermore, SNNA-LSAMP will facilitate the smooth transitions for participants transferring from its community colleges to its universities, as well as provide upper-division participants with step-by-step guidance through the process of applying to graduate school. SNNA-LSAMP will improve the STEM classroom experience for students from LSAMP populations by providing workshops that enhance the multicultural competence of professors and instructors at alliance institutions. The project will be a vital component of efforts to diversify and significantly expand the pool of highly qualified STEM workers in southern Nevada and northern Arizona, accelerating the region's ongoing transformation into fertile ground for STEM startups and will be an attractive destination for established STEM-based businesses seeking to relocate.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.