The Virginia-North Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation (VA-NC AMP), a Phase I Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), is well poised to participate in the National Science Foundation's initiative to broaden participation of underrepresented populations in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and workforce. Eight colleges and universities in Virginia and North Carolina comprise the proposed VA-NC AMP: Four historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), including two Master's Colleges and Universities; and four Doctorate-Granting/Research-Extensive Universities, forging a strong public-private institutional partnership dedicated to student success across the Alliance.
VA-NC AMP's goal is to double the number of STEM baccalaureate degrees awarded to students from underrepresented populations in STEM fields from an Alliance yearly average base, measured over academic years 2001 through 2005, of 524 to 1,053 by the end of 2012.
The Phase I Virginia-North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (VA-NC Alliance) received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for five million dollars starting May 1, 2007 and ending April 30, 2012. The VA-NC Alliance was approved for a one-year no-cost extension, extending the grant until April 30, 2013. The Alliance was comprised of the following schools: Bennett College for Women, Elizabeth City State University, George Mason University, Johnson C. Smith University, Saint Augustine’s University, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Tech. The VA-NC Alliance worked towards its goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students enrolled in and graduating from the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In order to meet its goal, the VA-NC Alliance offered bridge programs, stipends, research opportunities, tutoring, mentoring, and other activities designed to support students’ academic success. Many incoming freshman students began their participation with the VA-NC Alliance through bridge programs including traditional summer residential programs, fall sessions, and an innovative online version at George Mason University (GMU). In 2011, GMU faculty gave a presentation at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) about the online bridge program developed for Alliance scholars and replicable for other students as well. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) piloted a Living and Learning Community with its summer 2011 transition program participants, who lived together in student housing during the subsequent academic year. This allowed for programming options in the dormitory and a continued supportive community during the academic year. Findings on the Living and Learning Community were presented at ASEE in 2012. In addition, the VA-NC Alliance has hosted six annual symposia, rotating the event between partner schools. Typically, over 100 participants register and at least 30% of participating students give oral or poster presentations. During Phase I, VA-NC Alliance students have had numerous opportunities to conduct and present research and to prepare extensively for the graduate school application process. Each year, one of the VA-NC Alliance institutions hosted a graduate school preparation retreat and invited students from partner schools to participate. The VA-NC Alliance Summer Research Program has been one of the signature operations of the partnership. The VA-NC Alliance management team established the program in 2010 and has hosted three cohorts of students at the University of Virginia (U.Va.) with research tracks in astrochemistry, biology, chemistry, and engineering. A range of nine to twelve students from partner institutions have conducted research for eight weeks each summer. Collaborations through the summer research program strengthened pathways between partner schools, U.Va.’s STEM departments, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. In 2012, a student team conducting research in astrochemistry discovered a new interstellar molecule, cyanomethanimine. This molecule has implications for the origins of life because it is a precursor molecule for RNA found in interstellar gas clouds. This is just one example of the intellectual merit of the VA-NC Alliance students’ research projects. Summer research experiences pique students’ interest in science and contribute to their retention in STEM. For example, an analysis of one of the summer research programs offered by the Center for Diversity in Engineering at U.Va. found that 25% of participants who graduated pursued an advanced graduate degree in STEM while the remaining 75% have begun STEM careers or are pursuing professional graduate programs. A number of Alliance students have participated in international research experiences such as the Organization for Tropical Studies REU in Costa Rica. The leadership team of the VA-NC Alliance established an international research experience in St. Kitts-Nevis. Partner schools obtained funding to support specific initiatives. For example, U.Va. was awarded a Jefferson Trust grant to support expansion of the VA-NC Alliance Summer Research Program. Bennett College for Women received support from the Clapp Foundation to support its Sisters in Science Program which pairs Alliance scholars with middle-school girls in a mentorship program. Phase I of the VA-NC Alliance was very successful with a 39 percent increase in the number of URM students enrolled in the STEM fields at its partner schools (see Graph A). During the same reporting period, the number of URM students in the STEM fields who graduated from partner institutions increased by 67 percent (see Graph B). In addition, during the first five years, the number of Latino students who obtained STEM degrees from VA-NC Alliance schools almost doubled, from 124 to 238 and the number of underrepresented minority students in the STEM fields who participated in Alliance activities increased by 93% in five years, from 911 to 1,763. These achievements illustrate the broader impacts of the VA-NC Alliance. The VA-NC Alliance submitted its proposal to become a Mid-level Alliance and was notified of its award with a start date of September 15, 2012. *See images I-III for photos of VA-NC Alliance students.
