9522207 Bernat This award provides infrastructure support for a program designed to substantially increase the number of minorities, particularly Hispanics, who complete degree programs in the areas of computer and information science and engineering. It involves both the Computer Science and Computer Engineering Departments at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The project is built around the concept of Affinity Groups, groups which are centered about a research area and which involve both graduate and undergraduate students and one or two faculty members at the center of each group. Within the groups, emphasis is on developing social and communication skills as well as on research and technical skills. A strong evaluation component is built into the project. It is anticipated that the structure developed has the potential to become a model for the success of minority students at a wide range of similar urban, commuter institutions. ***
