The New York City Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation will begin its 8th Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) program consisting of 12 students matriculating in postbaccalaureate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies at the City University of New York (CUNY) during the 2010-2012 academic year.
Bridge students will be beneficiaries of a proactive retention and professional enrichment program that will include academic and research mentoring, GRE workshops, roundtable discussions with advanced doctoral students, faculty and administrators, and attendance and participation at local and national professional conferences. The at-large faculty pool associated with the CUNY Graduate Center, and CUNY Institute/Center Directors will serve as Bridge faculty/research advisors. The Alliance will continue to partner with Brookhaven National Labs to provide cutting-edge research training during the academic year and summer terms. International research experiences will also be integrated into the training of all selected BD scholars.
A critical infrastructure component for research and education is the availability of competent and committed students. The Bridge program will continue to serve as a catalyst for raising financial support for graduate students to a level that would attract US citizens into the STEM research pipeline in numbers sufficient to sustain the national STEM enterprise.
Progress and results of the Bridge to the Doctorate program will be disseminated at the NYC LSAMP Urban University Conference Series, and through its Virtual Community (www.projectstem.net), and Newsletter. The BD scholars represent a resource of STEM trainees that are poised to be involved in Informal Science and Math Education
The New York City Louis Stokes Alliance The New York City Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NYC LSAMP) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has spearheaded the increase in CUNY’s annual baccalaureate degree production among underrepresented groups (African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islanders). The NYC LSAMP involves 17 of CUNY’s 18 academic campuses, including the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC), CUNY’s Ph.D. degree-granting unit. Bridge students were beneficiaries of a proactive retention and professional enrichment program that included academic and research mentoring, GRE workshops, roundtable discussions with advanced doctoral students, faculty and administrators, and attendance and participation at local and national professional conferences. The at-large faculty pool associated with the CUNY Graduate Center, and CUNY Institute/Center Directors served as Bridge faculty/research advisors. A series of activities were designed and implemented to ensure the transition to doctoral programs. These activities serve to create a learning community of scholars across the campuses given the fact that the participating students take courses and conduct research at different campuses. Two of the BTD Scholars started at a community college in CUNY Two were selected from non-CUNY schools Scholars came from seven undergraduate programs Scholars are pursuing degrees in nine different disciplines Six have been accepted to non CUNY Doctoral programs Nine have completed MS degrees Eleven have been accepted to Doctoral programs One earned a Ford Foundation Fellowship Two earned GEM Fellowships The creation of future STEM professionals in the US requires early introduction and sustained support. These activities occur in the community colleges. LSAMP scholars get intimate mentorship with STEM faculty, summer internships and preparation for graduate study. The BTD program provides another level of the 'apprenticeship'. The skill-set that participants receive from participation are critical in many areas of the society. A critical infrastructure component for research and education is the availability of competent and committed students. The level of support provided by the Bridge program provides scholars with two years of support to focus exclusively on educational and professional development. This focus and commitment to graduate research is essential for the completion of the Doctoral degree.
