Alliance of Missouri Institutions of Higher Learning Aim to Double Minority STEM Degree Attainment through $5 Million National Science Foundation LSAMP Grant
Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) is pleased to announce that an alliance of eight Missouri colleges and universities have jointly received a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. Called MoLSAMP, the consortium consists of two historically black colleges: Harris-Stowe State University and Lincoln University; three major research institutions: the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis; a regional comprehensive university: The University of Central Missouri; a highly selective liberal arts university: Truman State University and the Center for Plant and Life Sciences at an urban community college: St. Louis Community College.
By 2021, MoLSAMP aims to double the number of underrepresented minority science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates in Missouri each year. In 2014, there were 283 under-represented minority STEM graduates in Missouri. The alliance plans to more than double that number to exceed 630 within five years. Underrepresented minorities are identified by LSAMP as African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Native Pacific Islanders.
“This National Science Foundation grant, through the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, is a major achievement for Harris-Stowe and for students across our state,” Gov. Jay Nixon said. “By increasing the diversity of students completing degrees, entering graduate programs, working in research laboratories and mentoring the next generation of STEM students, Harris-Stowe and the Missouri Alliance are building a foundation for increased diversity in STEM education and employment in this vital sector of our economy.”
The MoLSAMP program is the 46th alliance in the nation. The LSAMP program provides funding to alliances that implement comprehensive, evidence-based, innovative, and sustained strategies that ultimately result in the graduation of well-prepared, highly-qualified students from underrepresented groups who pursue graduate studies or careers in STEM. The LSAMP program is in its 25th year.
Named for famed Ohio Congressman Louis Stokes who helped focus federal attention on the nation’s poor and led a special House investigation into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When Stokes retired from Congress in 1999, the Alliances for Minority Participation program was renamed the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation – or LSAMP. Congressman Stokes passed away in 2015.
“As one of two HBCUs in the state, Harris-Stowe is honored to have galvanized this coalition of public, and private, 2- and 4-year stellar institutions known for research and innovation in a variety of disciplines, to accomplish a worthy goal,” said Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president, Harris-Stowe State University. “We are proud to carry on the legacy of transforming students into STEM professionals through this great program. The work of this formidable alliance in Missouri will benefit scores of students at all our institutions for many years.”
About Harris-Stowe State University
Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU), located in midtown St. Louis, is a fully accredited four-year institution that offers 31 majors, minors and certificate programs in education, business and arts & sciences. In 2014, HSSU ranked No. 1 in the state of Missouri and No. 47 in the nation in granting degrees in mathematics and statistics to African-Americans according to Missouri Department of Higher Education and Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, a newsmagazine that has ranked institutions conferring the most degrees to minority students for the past 30 years. For the second consecutive year, Harris-Stowe ranked No. 28 among the Top HBCUs in the country according to Niche, an online content provider of reviews and insight on more than 1,100 colleges nationwide. The university, which has origins dating back to 1857, celebrates its 160th year in 2017. Learn more at
www.hssu.edu. About Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
The program assists universities and colleges in their efforts to significantly increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in order to diversify the STEM workforce. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences in support of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Native Pacific Islanders.
About MoLSAMP
The MoLSAMP alliance formed during the fall of 2014, in the aftermath of the Ferguson unrest. Provosts and presidents of institutions of higher education in the St. Louis region gathered find educational solutions to address a gap in the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students throughout the state. The institutions includes two HBCUs: Harris-Stowe State University and Lincoln University; three major research institutions: the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis; a regional comprehensive university: the University of Central Missouri; a highly selective liberal arts university: Truman State University and the Center for Plant and Life Sciences at an urban community college: St. Louis Community College.
Posted By: How May I Help You NC
Thursday, October 13th 2016 at 1:20PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
