Tennessee Valley Tri-State LSAMP Pre-Alliance Planning

路易斯·斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟（LSAMP）项目通过努力显著增加历史上代表性不足的少数民族（非裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人、美洲印第安人或阿拉斯加原住民）的学生人数，帮助大学和学院实现科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）劳动力的多样化。夏威夷原住民或其他太平洋岛民)成功完成高质量的STEM学位课程。LSAMP联盟前规划工作是在2022年建立一个潜在的田纳西河谷三州STEM途径和实施（SPIO）联盟，该联盟包括北阿拉巴马大学、密西西比女子大学、密西西比大学马丁分校、东密西西比社区学院和西北浅滩社区学院以及其他非学术组织，这将使一个广泛的网络成为评估和开发机构间资源的平台。在这个以农村为主的美国地区，提高STEM领域urm毕业率的政策和途径。这一规划期将a)产生关于各种合作伙伴在正式建立联盟方面的有效性的新信息；b)对目前提供给URM STEM本科生的一系列服务、资源和机会进行全面评估，并确定存在差距的地方；c)通过基于证据的活动设计和推广新的途径，以提高URM在STEM领域的本科生数量。在区域方面，这项工作将通过实施对拟议的伙伴网络（包括雇主）具有可持续性的活动，提供知识，以促进一群特别有针对性的学生。凭借在STEM领域的学术和行政领导经验的强烈融合，该团队提供了对目标三州地区周边农村地区学生和家庭所面临的障碍和挑战的理解。通过这一规划工作，将开辟新的途径，否则，如果没有这种协调一致的努力，这些途径就不会汇合。该项目的结果将用于在2022年制定一份完整的提案，通过NSF LSAMP STEM路径实施（SPIO）资助机会，为STEM学科中历史上代表性不足的背景的主要农村学生的招聘、保留、毕业和研究生成功建立一个成功的模式。通过评估当前的资源和方法，我们将建立并正式确定阿拉巴马州北部农村、密西西比州农村和田纳西州农村的途径，为建立一个全面的联盟做准备，这个联盟将对这个三州地区的劳动力需求做出反应并具有竞争力。这一规划拨款将使战略伙伴关系最终加强三州的集体经济，并为全国就业市场注入来自农村环境的训练有素的STEM专业人员，他们将准备在STEM领域做出经济和社会贡献。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce through their efforts at significantly increasing the numbers of students from historically underrepresented minority (URM)populations(African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders) to successfully complete high quality degree programs in STEM.The LSAMP Pre-Alliance Planning effort for a potential Tennessee Valley Tri-State STEM Pathways and Implementation-Only (SPIO) alliance in 2022 involving the University of North Alabama, Mississippi University for Women, the University of Mississippi-Martin, East Mississippi Community College and Northwest-Shoals Community College with other non-academic organizations will allow an extensive network a platform from which to evaluate and develop inter-institutional resources, policies and pathways to improve graduation rates for URMs in STEM in this predominantly rural U.S. region. This planning period will a) yield new information about the effectiveness of a diverse array of partners to formalize an Alliance; b) provide a comprehensive assessment of the current suite of services, resources, and opportunities offered to URM STEM undergraduates and determine where the gaps exist; and c) design and promote new pathways with evidence-based activities that will improve the numbers of URM undergraduates in STEM fields. Regionally, this work will provide knowledge to advance a specially targeted cohort of students by implementing activities that will be sustainable for the proposed network of partners, including employers. With a strong blend of academic and administrative leadership experiences in STEM fields, this team offers an understanding of the barriers and challenges faced by students and families in surrounding rural areas of the targeted tri-state region. Through this planning effort, new pathways will be enabled that, otherwise, would not converge without such a concerted effort.The results from this project will be used to develop a full proposal in 2022 to establish a successful model through the NSF LSAMP STEM Pathways Implementation-Only (SPIO) funding opportunity for recruitment, retention, graduation, and post-graduate success of primarily rural students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in STEM disciplines. By assessing current resources and approaches, we will establish and formalize pathways from rural northern Alabama, rural Mississippi and rural Tennessee in preparation for a full Alliance that will be both responsive and competitive for workforce needs across this tri-state region. This planning grant will enable strategic partnerships that will ultimately strengthen the tri-state's collective economy and infuse the national job market with highly trained STEM professionals who hail from rural settings and will be prepared to make economic and social contributions in STEM fields.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.