The University of Texas System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) proposes to host a Bridge to the Doctorate Program (BD) at the University of Texas at El Paso, the lead institution of the Alliance and the only doctoral research intensive institution in the US with a Mexican American student majority. Twelve highly qualified graduate fellows will be fully funded for the first two years of their graduate studies. This will increase the number of talented students from under-represented minority (URM) groups who will obtain doctoral degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and upon completion either enter a career in academia or join the technical workforce.
Building on the experience gathered from previous BD cohorts at the University of Texas at El Paso and other alliance institutions, the program will include the following critical components: (1) The program will target students at LSAMP institutions with prior undergraduate research experience who enroll in the fast track to the Ph.D. in a STEM discipline. (2) A wide pool of highly qualified applicants who have participated in LSAMP activities as undergraduates and who will begin their graduate studies at UTEP in the fall of 2013 will be solicited. (3) Applicants will be carefully screened; the application process will include a substantial application portfolio followed by personal interviews conducted by the program administrators. (4) Students accepted into the BD program will already have identified a faculty mentor and a research topic or will do so during their first semester as graduate students. (5) Besides full financial support, fellows will receive quality advising and mentoring to help them achieve their academic goals, to give them support in overcoming obstacles to the doctorate, and to prepare them to be knowledgeable and competent professionals. The program directors will also advise the BD fellows to prepare a comprehensive research plan. (6) Eligible BD fellows will apply for continuing support through the NSF Graduate Fellowship Program, the GEM Fellowship program, etc.
The proposed program will lead to the enhancement of successful strategies for URM graduate student success that are applicable to other institutions of higher learning with characteristics similar to those of UTEP (urban research university, high proportion of URM enrollment). It will also contribute to the national goal of increasing the number of under-represented minority students in STEM disciplines with terminal degrees in their area of expertise.
