9623750 Sullivan Mississippi's eight public universities are graduating minority students in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) fields in unprecedented numbers! The success of the Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation (MAMP) in causing this increase over the past four years has been the direct result of a true partnership among member institutions which features the sharing of resources to achieve a common goal. The Mississippi Alliance, especially at the historically white universities, has a growing enrollment trend in SMET disciplines. Together, these eight institutions increased in the B.S. degrees granted to minority students in SMET from 288 in 1991 to 472 in 1995. The dramatically increased pool of SMET minority students now in the pipeline for graduate school dictates an added focus for MAMP in the Phase II. We must help these students more effectively to earn graduate degrees in SMET. MAMP Phase II objectives are: 1. To increase the number of minority SMET graduates from 543 annually in 1996 to 782 annually by 2001, a forty-four percent (44%) increase over the five-year period. 2. To significantly increase the number of minority students who enroll in graduate programs. 3. To significantly increase the number and percentage of minority students enrolled in SMET at the historically white institutions. 4. To significantly increase the retention rates at all MAMP universities. 5. To forge cooperative links with business and government across the state and region. To achieve these objectives, MAMP will build on the experience of the past four years in developing and implementing strategies which are focused on empowering students to take responsibility for their own success. These strategies were developed with the assistance of students, whose participation in the design of activities will continue to guide the framework of the MAMP approach. In addition to the bridge to graduate school, activities to be emphasized will include peer mentoring and study groups; workshops; undergraduate research, both academic year and summer; summer bridge programs for freshmen and community college transfer students; drop-in centers; stipends; outreach programs with pre- college students; recruitment; and curriculum reform. Formative evaluation will provide the necessary continuous feedback required for maximum success. Dissemination activities will be expanded from primarily an inter-institutional focus to the region and beyond.
