SUNY LSAMP 2009 Bridge to the Doctorate Cohort at Stony Brook: Project Summary The State University of New York Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (SUNY LSAMP) is ready to immediately put into place its fourth cohort of Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) students at Stony Brook University, the lead institution of the Alliance. This new cohort will build on our three previous efforts that have not only significantly added to the UREP STEM graduate enrollment and masters and doctoral degrees but have also led to important changes in the culture and practice of STEM education in ways that not only help UREP students but all graduate STEM students. Project Goals and Objectives The goals and objectives of the SUNY LSAMP 2009 Bridge to the Doctorate Program at Stony Brook are: To recruit 12 LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate students by: ?] Using recruitment pathways that we have developed that target the state and national LSAMP pool and recruit students from a variety of LSAMP institutions and STEM majors. ?] Having a selection process that works with STEM departments and SUNY AGEP to choose talented LSAMP students who will succeed with program support To design and implement a program that helps students successfully complete two years of STEM graduate study by: ?] Providing a comprehensive set of services that monitor student progress, builds a strong BD community, builds BD students academic and professional skills and use UREP STEM graduate students as mentors and instructors wherever possible ?] Collaborating with other NSF and state and federal programs to make the best use of program resources by integrating BD students into the existing network of activities and programs ?] Assessing the success of program services through external evaluation and developing new or modified activities or interventions based on the results of this evaluation To make sure that BD students enter and successfully complete doctoral study and then move into academia and the high technology workplace by: ?] Helping students to successfully gain admission into doctoral programs ?] Preparing BD students to apply for NSF and other graduate fellowships ?] Working with STEM departments, the Graduate School and the Turner Fellowship program to develop plans to provide a formal pathway to PhD programs that include financial support for BD students after the two years of BD NSF support ends ?] Working with STEM departments to provide academic support where needed to help students through doctoral study ?] Maintaining an effective system for tracking students after they leave the BD program through their educational career and professional work experience To promote systemic change in graduate STEM policy and practices in ways that will increase the success of individual students on the doctoral pathway and the effectiveness of UREP STEM graduate education by: ?] Using resources from multiple sources to examine broad issues related to UREP STEM graduate education using the BD, AGEP and UREP STEM graduate population INTELLECTUAL MERIT The project will add to current efforts by SUNY LSAMP to build research capacity in STEM education in the area of graduate education. The lessons learned from the study of the Bridge to the Doctorate Program will be put into the context of broader issues of systemic change and disseminated to a broad national audience BROADER IMPACT Using the lessons learned from this project, we expect to continue to develop and refine strategies that will increase the recruitment and retention of UREP STEM graduate students. This will that will help to increase the number of UREP STEM students who successfully complete doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines and make changes in STEM departmental culture and practice.
