In partnership with the Science.gov Alliance, the principal investigator, Dr. William E. McHenry and the co-principal investigator Dr. John S. Colonias propose to create a web-based comprehensive one-stop science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational resource tool the Science Education Resource Virtual Diversity Center (SER Virtual Diversity Center). The SER Virtual Diversity Center will feature: (1) STEM education programs by category of federal support; (2) promising practices and lessons learned from federal STEM education supporting agencies as well as from the institutions they support; (3) STEM-based educational resources for students and parents; and (4) a virtual electronic campus designed to assist institutions in sharing STEM educational courses and degree programs using the internet.
Merit. The SER Virtual Diversity Center will serve as the major STEM education content portal for federal programs that target increasing participation from women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in the STEM workforce and eventually serve as a tool for sharing information on all strategies designed to address the nation's STEM workforce needs. The SER Virtual Diversity Center will use technology-enabled processes to connect federal agencies with each other and with higher education faculty and administrators; K-12 teachers, counselors, administrators; students and parents in order to achieve dramatic improvement in efficiency for those involved in increasing minority participation in STEM -- especially federal agencies.
Impact. As outlined in the BEST Report, the participation of American students in STEM fields must dramatically increase if America is to remain competitive in a global economy. With the American population becoming more diverse, students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields must be encouraged to participate. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges have a record of unparalleled success with these students. The NSF's HRD Programs, especially the Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) and alliance programs, are examples of the impact partnerships between the federal government and minority-serving institutions can have on increasing the capacity of those institutions for producing STEM professionals. Purposively, the SER Virtual Diversity Center will enable federal agency program officers to better access information across agency lines, coordinate science education initiatives, and connect agencies more directly with higher education institutions and their faculty and school districts and their teachers, counselors, students, and parents to create STEM knowledge-based communities. The authors propose to create a one-stop SER Virtual Diversity Center through which federal agency program officers and others can view: (1) STEM education programs by category of federal support; (2) promising practices and lessons learned from federal STEM education supporting agencies as well as from the institutions they support; (3) STEM-based educational resources for students and parents; and (4) a virtual electronic campus designed to assist institutions in sharing STEM educational courses and degree programs using the internet.
