Mississippi public universities, recognizing that minorities are severely underrepresented in science and engineering degree programs at all levels in Mississippi, the South and the nation, have and are continuing to develop programs to increase minority participation. Responding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliance for Minority Participation(AMP) initiative, Mississippi's eight state institutions of higher learning are proposing a state-wide comprehensive alliance and partnerships with other public and private educational institutions (public schools, junior and/or community colleges, and private colleges and universities), business and industry for the purpose of establishing cooperative efforts to increase the number of minority students in science and engineering programs at all levels but initially focusing at the undergraduate level. This support will allow Mississippi's institutions of higher learning establish a Mississippi Alliance for Science and Engineering (MASE) center that will focus on: (1) developing a Mississippi Alliance for Talent Enrichment (MATE) program which will be a structured partnership between secondary schools and colleges; and (2) developing a Combination of Institutions - Star Search Scholars (CIS) program. The MASE Center will place emphasis on several of the critical bridge points in the educational pipeline. However, the primary focus will be towards increasing the undergraduate science and engineering minority enrollment population and strengthening the bridge between undergraduate and graduate minority science and engineering students enrollment trends. The long-range impact of the MASE Center will be (1) to increase the science and engineering awareness of minority students, (2) to increase undergraduate minority participation in science and engineering programs, and (3) to increase the number of graduate degrees granted to minorities in science and engineering programs. Over the initial five-year period the MASE Center will monitor progress in each to establish an on-going statewide process to ensure a long-term commitment to increasing minority participation in science and engineering programs. During NSF-AMP funding for the Mase Center, minority participation in the sciences and engineering should increase to reflect their percentage of the population in the State. Mississippi's population is approximately 37% African American.
