The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce through their efforts at significantly increasing the numbers of students from historically underrepresented minority populations to successfully complete high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (LSAMP-BD) activity provides two-year support at the post baccalaureate level for students from historically underrepresented minority populations to matriculate in STEM graduate programs with the ultimate goal of earning a doctoral degree in a STEM discipline. Participants are selected from LSAMP institutions nationwide. The Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP), under the leadership of Tennessee State University, has chosen Vanderbilt University as the first LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (LSAMP-BD) site managed by this alliance. Vanderbilt University will host the 2015-2017 BD program in which a cohort of twelve LSAMP BD students will engage in STEM research, academics and professional development leading to acceptance and completion of the doctoral program. The Tennessee LSAMP graduate BD program at Vanderbilt University has the potential to promote systemic change in graduate education practices and policy, in ways that will increase the success of individual students on the doctoral pathway and the effectiveness of STEM graduate programs with a goal of diversifying America's STEM workforce.
The BD program at Vanderbilt University employs a proven "toolkit" with components for innovative recruitment, engagement, retention, student tracking and dissemination that will include a mentoring e-dashboard to advance the practice of mentoring formatively and real-time for tracking student progress and development. The toolkit also accommodates interview protocols and non-cognitive skills rubrics that has the potential to transform traditional graduate education practices. The program includes collaborations and linkages with other STEM networks and resources as well as other graduate programs, such as NSF's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) and institutional resources to ensure students successful completion of the STEM doctoral degree. The program will be externally evaluated and students will be tracked throughout the program and into STEM careers following completion of STEM doctoral degree programs.
