The Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PSLSAMP) is a collaborative effort sustained by seven universities in Georgia to increase the number of underrepresented minority students statewide who complete undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Georgia is experiencing explosive population growth while embracing policies that favor economic development in strategic, technology- oriented fields. There is a compelling need for college graduates with strong technical skills. There is also wide recognition that underrepresented minorities must participate significantly in meeting this need. The current proposal, developed by the University of Georgia in close collaboration with Bainbridge College, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Perimeter College, Macon State College, Savannah State University, and Southern Polytechnic University, is submitted to the National Science Foundation and requests $1,000,000 per year for five years to support Alliance-wide and individual campus-based programming. The primary impacts will be to enhance the recruitment and retention of minority students and double the number of such students at participating universities overall who earn bachelor.s degrees in STEM disciplines.
Intellectual Merit The shortage of American college graduates with technical and scientific training is well documented, and the percentage of U.S. students entering colleges and universities with the intention of majoring in STEM fields has steadily declined. Strengthening the STEM workforce and its leadership is a priority concern if the U.S. is to maintain its economic leadership, security and quality of life. Preparing African Americans, Hispanic Americans and other underrepresented minorities for careers in these fields is a logical component of most strategies to address these needs. It has an overwhelmingly compelling logic in a state like Georgia where these minorities make up approximately 34% of the state.s population. Improving minority involvement in undergraduate STEM fields is a complex problem. In Georgia, the development of a dynamic statewide plan to address this problem requires initially that very different types of institutions cooperate closely to achieve a shared, long-term goal in terms of the production of minority STEM graduates. The current proposal is the result of such inter-institutional collaboration.
Broader Impacts In addition to its primary impacts, PSLSAMP programs will:
Provide opportunities designed to motivate students to pursue advanced study, Prepare students for graduate school, Emphasize career opportunities in STEM fields, Engage faculty and staff in the planning process and in professional development activities to ensure institutionalization, and Create a genuine partnership among institutions and organizations within Georgia.
The University of Georgia will serve as the lead institution and fiduciary agent on behalf of the Peach State Alliance and President Michael Adams, a research scientist himself, will serve as the principal investigator and chair of the Governing Board. The Governing Board, along with the Steering Committee and research faculty, will provide intellectual leadership to the Alliance.
Peach State LSAMP, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was established in November 2005 with the mission to significantly increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students completing baccalaureate degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The Alliance was comprised of five University System of Georgia institutions including The University of Georgia (lead institution), Fort Valley State University, Savannah State University, Southern Polytechnic State University, and Georgia Perimeter College. These institutions have been successful in providing meaningful undergraduate research opportunities and academic support to STEM students, forming productive community relationships, and creating partnerships to further their mission. Through their collaborative Peach State LSAMP efforts, they have significantly advanced their academic objectives and collectively achieved greater outcomes than would have been achieved through their individual efforts. In order to fulfill the goals of the grant, the Peach State LSAMP offered the following activities and programs: Incoming Freshman and Transfer Summer Bridge Programs Peer Mentoring and Study Groups Tutoring and Academic Support Career and Academic Workshops Student Stipends and Research Scholarships Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research Summer Internship and Research Opportunities (externally funded) Travel Awards for Local and National Conferences Graduate School Preparation The Peach State LSAMP program has funded 1211 students as general or research scholars. Of those 1211 scholars, 1079 were retained in STEM majors, hence it has had an 89% retention rate. The Alliance has had 449 scholars to graduate and 62 graduates to enroll in graduate or professional school. There is some preliminary data that suggests that Alliance STEM students are taking longer than five years to complete their baccalaureate degrees. Sufficient data must be collected to study such graduation trends. Eighty-one (81) Peach State LSAMP scholars transferred from Georgia Perimeter College to a four-year institution, which indicates a 59% transfer rate among the LSAMP scholars who attended a two-year institution. Other outcomes include 374 funded research opportunities (on-site, off-site, and international), 352 LSAMP workshops, 531 scholars have presented at conferences and 14 have published their research in the first six years of grant funding. See attached image summarizing this information. The Peach State Alliance Institutions have had a significant impact on increasing both enrollment in STEM majors and STEM degree completion for URM students. Enrollment of URM students in STEM majors has increased 107% from 2006 to 2011. Degree completion in STEM for URM students increased by 20% in 2010, but was reported to have dipped in 2011 with an overall increase of 12%. See attached graphics displaying these results.
