Pre-Alliance Planning: The Bridges Across Texas Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation

代表性不足的学生人数正在增加，其中更多的学生正在攻读大学学位，但他们的学士学位科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学位的完成率仍然落后于一般人口。跨得克萨斯州LSAMP（BAT LSAMP）预联盟的桥梁将汇集来自六所高等院校的人员，制定一项计划，以改善招聘，保留和毕业的代表性不足的学生，重点是学生从社区学院转入STEM专业在四年制大学。该项目的总体目标是加强从社区学院到四年制机构的管道，并解决德克萨斯州不断增长的STEM劳动力需求。该联盟将侧重于评估：（i）代表性不足的学生的态度，障碍和需求;（ii）合作机构STEM课程的现有能力和差距;（iii）代表性不足的学生招聘和保留战略;（iv）四年制合作机构的转移障碍;以及（v）每个合作机构的基础设施需求。在18个月的时间里，该项目将管理学生和管理人员的问卷调查，进行焦点小组会议，并举行会议，以确定代表性不足的STEM学生所面临的障碍和需求。收集的数据将为政策提供信息，并产生满足学生需求的实践，最终目标是增加入学率和代表性不足的学生完成STEM学位。该项目的智力价值在于，它将产生关于两年制和四年制院校之间关系如何发展和加强的实用知识，并将深入了解高等教育机构如何通过高等教育景观共同支持学生的多样化途径。

The number of underrepresented students is increasing and more of these students are pursuing college degrees, but their completion rate for baccalaureate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees still lags the general population. The Bridges Across Texas LSAMP (BAT LSAMP) Pre-Alliance will bring together personnel from six institutions of higher learning to develop a plan to improve recruitment, retention, and graduation of underrepresented students, with a focus on students transferring from community colleges into STEM majors at four-year universities. The overarching goal of the project is to strengthen the pipeline from community colleges to four-year institutions, and address the growing STEM workforce needs of the State of Texas. This Pre-Alliance will focus on evaluating: (i) underrepresented students' attitudes, barriers, and needs; (ii) existing capacity and gaps in STEM curriculum at partner institutions; (iii) underrepresented students recruitment and retention strategies; (iv) transfer barriers at the four-year institution partners; and (v) infrastructure needs at each partner institution. Over 18 months, the project will administer student and administrator questionnaires, conduct focus-group meetings, and hold meetings to identify the barriers faced by and needs of underrepresented STEM students. The data gathered will inform policy and produce practices that meet students' needs, with an ultimate goal of increasing enrollment and completion of STEM degrees by underrepresented students. The intellectual merit of the project is that it will generate practical knowledge regarding how relationships between two-year and four-year institutions develop and strengthen, and will offer insights into how institutions of higher education can collectively support students' diverse pathways through the higher education landscape.