This Minority Graduate Education proposal is a collaborative project between the University of Florida and Florida A&M University to develop a comprehensive professional development program to identify and nurture "at promise" minority students who have the ability and interest to pursue an academic career in science and engineering. It incorporates current understanding of the obstacles faced by students who chose to enter his career track.
The objectives if the program are: 1. Increase the pool of minority undergraduate students who are prepared and choose to pursue a doctoral career in science and engineering (S&E) 2. Increase the number of minority doctoral students who are prepared and choose to pursue an academic career as faculty members 3. Provide financial support for minority students who choose this career path 4. Provide affective support to facilitate the successful completion of doctoral degrees by these students 5. Diversify the S&E graduate population at UF 6. Increase the number of minority S&E faculty members
Strategies to accomplish this include recruitment, mentoring, academic preparedness and professional development components. These strategies will be model for other institutions across the country truly committed to increasing the pool of talented minority faculty in science and engineering.
