9450369 Young American Indians are the least represented of all minorities in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM). The overall goal of this project is to establish a comprehensive interactive All-Nations Alliance and network to increase substantially the quality and quantity of American Indians receiving baccalaureate degrees and graduate degrees in SEM. The foundation of this alliance is 24 participating tribal colleges located in the following nine (9) states: MT, WA, ND, SD, NE, MN, MI, WI, KS. The tribal colleges are the functional units of the alliance developing and implementing project activities, recruiting and selecting students, tracking students, maintaining a comprehensive telecommunications network, establishing retention programs, and providing student support services. The alliance will develop and implement innovative programs with input from both the Indian community and the SEM community to enhance matriculation of American Indian students at the following three critical transition points: (1) high school to college (tribal/community/four-year); (2) two-year college (tribal/community) to four-year SEM degree-granting institutions; and (3) four-year institutions to doctoral degree-granting programs in SEM fields. Tribal colleges will develop a pipeline network by establishing linkages with local middle/high schools and four-year SEM degree- granting institutions. Through this unique longitudinal pipeline networking program, the All- Nations Alliance proposes to increase the numbers of American Indians receiving baccalaureate and doctoral degrees in science and engineering by six to ten-fold by the year 2000. One of the objectives of this proposal is to reduce by a least one half the dropout/stopout rate for American Indians in the education pipeline with effective retention programs. The All-Nations Alliance will be supervised by a Governing Board and administered by two institutions: Salish Kootenai College (SKC), a tribal college, and M ontana State University (MSU), a SEM degree-granting institution. Initially, SKC, working closely with 23 tribal colleges, will be responsible for programmatic activities and MSU will be responsible for fiscal management. By Years 4 and 5 of the five year program, both programmatic and fiscal management will be transferred to SKC and the participating tribal colleges. The All-Nations Alliance will establish a collaborative network of research scientists at universities and research laboratories to serve as mentors for American Indian students. In addition, the alliance will establish productive linkages and partnerships with other SEM-based programs, businesses, industry, organizations, state/federal agencies and foundations. The two lead institutions, SKC and MSU, offer a comprehensive array of in-kind contributions to the project. Additional sources of support for this project in cost sharing/matching have been identified by the tribal colleges through other grants and foundations. Project evaluation and assessment will be a continuous process and will follow the NSF User Friendly Handbook. A seven (7) person Extramural Peer Evaluation Team will conduct periodic detailed evaluations of program activities, accomplishments, and identify specific needs and deficiencies. Information on successful programs will be disseminated to other institutions via monthly newsletters, telecommunications, video tapes, and annual reports. ***
