The proposed SEAGEP Program includes The University of Florida (UF) as lead institution and two primary partners . Clemson University and The University of South Carolina. SEAGEP unites three Research Extensive institutions that combined offer PhD degrees in over 50 STEM fields offering unparalleled opportunities for graduate studies. In 2002, the total STEM graduate enrollment at these institutions was over 400. Secondary partners are the Florida-Georgia Louis B. Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP), the South Carolina Louis B. Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (SCAMP) and the University of the U.S. Virgin Islands. SEAGEP will also provide international opportunities for students through a collaboration with the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) and other Latin American and worldwide projects. SEAGEP will organize and deliver a comprehensive program that successfully guides STEM graduate students from underrepresented groups toward doctoral degree completion and entry into academic careers. The components of the program will be guided by the design principles suggested by the Building Engineering & Science Talent organization and will include targeted recruitment activities, bridging activities that prepare students for the graduate school experience, retention activities that include faculty and peer mentoring, professional preparation activities for entry into academic careers, and post doctoral opportunities. The objectives of the program are to: Increase the number of minority STEM PhD students from underrepresented groups and prepare them for successful entry into productive faculty careers, Develop synergistic partner relationships for institutionalizing changes that will continue to promote diversity in STEM graduate education Increase the pool of undergraduates from underrepresented groups who are prepared for entry into graduate STEM fields, Develop a model to evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership. The SEAGEP program will be evaluated throughout the five years of the program- using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including formative evaluation of the program activities as they are implemented, as well as summative program impact evaluation. The intellectual merit of SEAGEP is evident in that this Alliance includes a diverse team well qualified to serve as PIs and facilitators of the activities designed to address the preparation of doctoral students in creative and innovative ways, thereby increasing the numbers of underrepresented scholars that earn doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines and enter the professoriate. SEAGEP has been developed from a thorough understanding of the challenges inherent in this mission as reported in the literature. Each partner has unique strengths to contribute and benefits to realize. Through this synergy, SEAGEP will result in national models for cultural and institutional change, and partnership effectiveness. The Mission of SEAGEP is to create a regional partnership for enhancing diversity in higher education by developing innovative and sustainable graduate education programs to prepare and train students to enter STEM fields and to foster models of institutional cultural change. When realized, it will provide a direct impact by increasing the number of minority PhDs and will also result in broader impacts by establishing a model partnership and proven strategies that will be widely disseminated. SEAGEP will contribute to the development of a more inclusive, skilled, and versatile technical talent pool, strengthening the diversity of the Nation.s workforce, particularly academia, thereby contributing to the fields that are critical to the Nation.s economic strength, national security, and quality of life.
(SEAGEP) developed from an earlier MGE/AGEP at the University of Florida (UF) when it became an Alliance that included the University of Florida as the lead institution and the University of South Carolina and Clemson University as the primary partners. Secondary partners were the NSF Florida-Georgia Louis. B. Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program and the University of the Virgin Islands, the only Historically Black College/University outside of the continental U.S. At UF, over the entire 12 years of AGEP, it has had a direct impact on 144 Minority STEM PhD students. Of these, 70 have graduated with their PhDs and 14 with their Masters degrees in a wide variety of fields (Materials Science & Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Chemistry, Industrial & Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Animal Sciences, Entomology, Microbiology & Cell Science, Interdisciplinary Ecology, Biology). Over 30 students at both Clemson and USC each have also been directly impacted by the program. During the 12 years of AGEP the biggest impacts have been on engineering and the biological sciences. In engineering, at UF the three year averages at the beginning and end of the grant show a 202% increase in underrepresented minority (URM) PhD enrollees, a 200% increase in URM advance to candidacy (an indication of progress to degree and future graduates) and a 135% increase in the number of PhD recipients. The Biological Sciences also saw large increases; 167% increase in PhD enrollees, a 153% increase in advance to candidacy, and a 116% increase in URM PhD degrees awarded. A study of the first 29 SEAGEP PhD recipients found that SEAGEP grads were diversifying the technical workforce with 15 in academia (including postdoc positions), 5 in industry and 9 in government positions. The AGEP program produced institutional change through outreach and recruiting, networking with minority serving undergraduate institutions, proactive mentoring through the PhD program, and professional development activities. Students became part of a peer support group that students highly valued. This provided a venue for more senior students to help new students navigate their program. Travel awards that allowed new students to attend professional meetings helped them integrate into their field early in their program. Regular meetings with program administrators ensured that students continued to progress. Professional development activities, such as teaching and grant writing workshops, rounded out their preparation. Evaluation results indicated that SEGEP students reported a high degree of satisfaction with the program as well as with the guidance and mentoring they received from their departments. When asked how the AGEP program differed from other programs and how their experience differed from their colleagues who were not in AGEP, participants felt that this program helped them (a) to become more involved in the life of the school and not to remain isolated, (b) by providing a supportive environment, and (c) by giving them the opportunity to succeed academically. These were illustrated in students’ comments: • I’ve had other programs I’ve been affiliated with and this by far outshines the other programs.…the monthly meetings are great because you get to know the students, stay constantly involved rather than be isolated. So, since I am the only AGEP student in my department, I get to see other students in other majors and see what they are doing, see how their programs work and have the advantage of being able to know how other departments do their thing. • Some of the other programs, organizations, … don’t have that continuity, you don’t have the family environment – you don’t get that feeling, you don’t know everyone in the same program.
