9350355 Mitchell The Oklahoma Alliance for Minority Participation in Science, Engineering And Mathematics (OKAMP-SEM), comprising twenty-seven universities and colleges within the state of Oklahoma, has been established to address the critical under-supply of minority students pursuing degrees in SEM. The participating institutions include three research universities, Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, and University of Tulsa; Langston University, Oklahoma's Historically Black University; one large metropolitan and urban university, University of Central Oklahoma, nine regional universities of the state system; eleven two-year colleges including Bacone College, a private American Indian College and three other private colleges and universities. The alliance will also consist of corporate and community based organizations including representations from tribal entities. The 1990 U.S. Census shows Oklahoma to have the highest American Indian population in the United States (8% American Indian, 7.4% African American, 2.7% Hispanic and 1.1% Asian/Pacific Islanders). The Alliance institutions together enroll over 2000 minority students with undergraduate majors in SEM. The three research universities have over 150 minority students pursuing graduate study in these fields. Oklahoma has the largest proportion of American Indian students of any state. Southeastern and Northeastern Oklahoma State Universities have the highest enrollment in the state and confer more B.S. degrees to American Indians respectively than any institution in the United States. The primary objective of this program is to have a 15% increase annually of the number of underrepresented minorities enrolled and graduating in SEM fields of study moreover to increase the number of graduate students in these fields. The activities that will be carried out under the Alliance represent logical extensions to support the goals and objectives of the OKAMP-SEM as outlined by NSF and to support programs that are currently in operation in one or more of the units of OKAMP-SEM. A major component of the program is identification, recruitment and retention of these underrepresented student groups. The specific components of this program are 1) a Summer Bridge Program for students who have graduated from high school and are entering SEM programs immediately following their graduation and for students who are transferring from a two year to a four year institution, 2) an academic year scholarship program for students chosen as OKAMP-SEM Scholars and 3) a Summer Internship designer to give OKAMP-SEM Students a research experience. The request for $4.99 million is supported by $1.73 million in funds committed from the participating institutions. The progress and success of the program will be documented by monitoring the student progress and by tracking the students over time. A quantitative summary along with a narrative report on the individual and group success of participants will be disseminated through brochures and publicity. Because this is a state alliance, it will serve as a model that can be used by other states to form similar consortia.
