Drexel University, as a representative of the Greater Philadelphia Region Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (Philadelphia AMP), seeks continued funding for its AMP initiative as a senior level Alliance, to intensify its on-going efforts to substantially increase the quantity and quality of African American, Hispanic and Native American students receiving baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and subsequently, entering graduate school to attain doctoral degrees. Philadelphia AMP represents a diverse alliance of public and private, 2- and 4-year, research and non-research, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and majority institutions.
A salient feature of this proposal is the fundamental manner in which the proposed AMP initiative rests on a solid foundation of partnerships, resources, effective practice and experience derived from fourteen years of collaboration, cooperation and concerted efforts focused on minority student achievement under the current Philadelphia AMP project. During the past fourteen years of the Philadelphia AMP?s existence, the Alliance has contributed $l2.3 million in matching funds to the project through the use of college/university, foundation, state government and corporate funds. Through the Philadelphia Alliance a mechanism has been developed to catalyze changes in institutional departmental and organizational culture and the practices that will result in significant increases in recruitment, retention, STEM degree production, and graduate school entry for all students. Currently, the Alliance has established a firm foundation for the objectives of the proposed senior level Alliance initiative with specific attention to the expansion of a coordinated movement of community college students to 4- year institutions, and subsequently, successfully transitioned through to graduate study. The increased movement of students to graduate study has increased the participation of faculty at the undergraduate and graduate level with expanded domestic, as well as international research opportunities. In support of this AMP initiative, over 200+ tenured STEM faculty, academic department heads, and senior administrative personnel from the nine member institutions will actively participate in recruiting, advising and mentoring AMP students. In this proposal ?minority? refers to African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans.
Through synergistic collaboration, the Alliance utilizes its operational infrastructure to expand available options to enrich programs at partner institutions and beyond. Philadelphia AMP recognizes that sustained increases in the quality and quantity of minority students in undergraduate and graduate STEM degree programs have required not only a re-engineering of the educational system at all levels, but also a sustained mechanism which revisits the curricular adjustments to accommodate the demands of industry and the academy. These adjustments will result in permanent changes in the learning environment in the Alliance institutions, as well as in their policies and practices in terms of allocations of finances, personnel, recruitment, and admissions.
The proposed AMP initiative will utilize the experiences and practices gained through its development to senior level Alliance status to continue to foster the institutionalization of its current activities, and the preparation and transition of students from community colleges to 4-year institutions and from 4-yr institutions to graduate education.
Broader impacts include increasing the number and quality of students from underrepresented groups in Alliance institutions completing STEM B.S degrees and transitioning to graduate study; enhancing partnerships, research collaborations, and articulation strategies between community colleges, HBCU and Ph.D. granting universities, within the Philadelphia AMP and beyond; and enhancing the integration of research and education.
