The University of the District of Columbia requests NSF support over a five-year period to implement comprehensive approaches to strengthen the institution's undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research infrastructure. The University proposes to establish a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Research and Training Center. The Center will serve as a focal point for innovative ideas and activities in STEM disciplines. This Center will enable the University to achieve the following objectives: (1) increase student enrollment and graduation rates in STEM disciplines; (2) incorporate research in gate-keeper and sophomore-level STEM courses; and, (3) provide research experiences in STEM Center laboratories for undergraduate students. Additional enrichment activities include: distinguished lecturers, research focus groups, student-research seminar, workshops, and a science poster session. Resulting from these initiatives, graduation rates, graduate/professional school-admissions, and employment in the STEM disciplines are expected to increase.
The intellectual merit of this project lies in the proposed STEM infrastructure enhancements and their potential to result in significant and sustainable improvements in the overall quality of STEM instruction at the institution.
The impact of the proposed efforts is to broaden the participation of under-represented minorities in STEM disciplines and the national STEM workforce.
