Over the past three years of Phase II of the Washington-Baltimore-Hampton Roads Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (WBHR-LSAMP), three new state-based institutions were added. The original four partners for Phase I included Howard University (HU), Hampton University (HAU), Morgan State University (MSU) and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). The new Phase II partners included Bowie State University (BSU), Norfolk State University (NSU) and Virginia State University (VSU). The addition of these three partners expanded the diversity of student populations served by the WBHR-LSAMP programs as well as expanding the numbers of programs available to students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) within the Alliance. Intellectual and Technical Merit The principal objective for Phase III of the WBHR-LSAMP Alliance is to continue to institutionalize the . best practices. and . lesson-learned. from Phases I and II of the Alliance and to build the necessary instructional and research infrastructure that will ensure the successful progression and transition of undergraduate students towards B.S., M.S and Ph.D. degrees in STEM fields. The specific objectives for Phase III are to: Provide direct support for junior and senior-level students in order that they can successfully transition into graduate programs in STEM fields and ultimately replace the graying. professoriate in major research universities and the scientists and engineers at national and industrial laboratories.
To develop seamless relationships and partnerships with major research universities so that students within the WBHR-LSAMP programs completing B.S. and M.S. degree programs can continue their graduate work with joint mentoring by professors at WBHR- LSAMP institutions and those offering Ph.Ds by .building bridges for the doctorates..
To build synergistic research efforts for all STEM students so that institutionalization of the WBHR-LSAMP initiatives will become permanent mechanisms for degree production at all levels in the postsecondary educational pipeline.
Broader Impact Based on the trendline data, more than 7,500 African Americans have received B.S. degrees in STEM fields from this WBHR-LSAMP Alliance over the past 10 years and approximately 30 percent or 2,200 of these students have gone on to enroll in graduate degree programs and have received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees as well as other professional degrees. The WBHR-LSAMP has documented evidence that the LSAMP students are more likely to return to HBCUs than other students. It is also clear by the number of Ph.Ds produced within the WBHR- LSAMP institutions, as well as the number of new assistant professors who have been hired within the WBHR-LSAMP Alliance, that the impact of the WBHR-LSAMP Alliance is not just within the alliance, but the impact is national as well as global. We believe that that quality of African American students attending institutions within the WBHR-LSAMP alliance is among the highest in the United States. Furthermore, the establishment of new research partnerships will have as its foundation the establishments of doctoral.level research at WBHR-LSAMP institutions. The combination of improved instructional and research facilities at WBHR-LSAMP Institutions will have synergistic affects and benefits for all of the WBHR-LSAMP institutions, as well as the major research institutions that become research partners. In particular, students participating in collaborative research benefit because they can be actively involved in a comprehensive approach to research and development that is typically difficult to achieve in smaller focused research groups such as those normally found in HBCUs and MIs where research resources are usually limited.
