Building on the NSF LSAMP Program to Accomplish Institutional Transformation at Auburn University

This presentation will focus on institutional change and transformation that has been accomplished at Auburn University (AU) as a result of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program, an alliance-based program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The LSAMP Program's overall goal is to increase the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) baccalaureate and graduate degrees awarded to populations historically underrepresented in these disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders.

The Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP) Program was authorized and established by the U.S. Congress in 1991, and Auburn University joined the Alabama AMP Alliance in 1994. Auburn currently leads the Greater Alabama Black Belt Region (GABBR) LSAMP Alliance, which provides scholarships, peer and faculty mentoring, research internships, and opportunities for students to attend conferences, present their research, and network with peers and STEM faculty from within our alliance and from other LSAMP alliances across the country.

Since joining AMP, AU has institutionalized a Minority Engineering Program, Summer Bridge Program, a Minority Drop-In Center, and the recently established Institute for Strengthening Pathways and Research Knowledge in STEM (SPARK STEM Institute). The Institute is working in partnership with colleges and universities, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, K-12 school districts, national labs, foundations, government, and industry to accomplish its mission of creating and evaluating innovative research-based models for improving student academic and social experiences to attract, retain, and graduate more historically underrepresented and underserved populations in STEM disciplines locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

In addition to institutionalization efforts, we will also present research findings on results of the LSAMP program in the areas of student persistence, mentoring perceptions, academic efficacy, research interests and efficacy, belongingness, and academic focus and resilience.