LSAMP National Coordination Hub: Cultivating Holistic and Inclusive Dimensions to Broadening Participation in STEM

With support from the NSF Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), the LSAMP National Coordination Hub (LSAMP-NCH) is designed to bring together diverse stakeholders and lead a synchronized effort on broadening participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics). The LSAMP-NCH will serve as a knowledge building broker to the broader STEM community. Thus, the LSAMP-NCH aims to serve as a national backbone organization in Broadening Participation (BP) to enhance knowledge-dissemination by regularly bringing the national LSAMP community together to exchange ideas and develop new collaborations. In addition, the LSAMP NCH will support capacity building efforts that improve mentoring outcomes and increasing peer-reviewed journal publications within the BP ecosystem for both LSAMP and non-LSAMP partners. With the establishment of partnerships with STEM Industries and National Laboratories, the LSAMP-NCH will also promote evidence-based practices central to URM student persistence and success in STEM. Through engagements with leaders from LSAMP and non-LSAMP institutions and the national labs as well as corporate partners, the LSAMP-NCH will not only establish a network of BP practitioners and build stronger partnerships, but also offer opportunities to build partnerships with prospective employers from the STEM industries. In taking a leadership position in the BP space, the LSAMP-NCH will serve as the information hub and the national platform for outcomes from the community, regional and national efforts. The specific aims of the LSAMP-NCH are; (i) Influencing change in the national STEM ecosystem through stronger collaborations, partnerships, and bridges among alliances and non-alliance partners with a coordination of activities among LSAMP and non-LSAMP partners; (ii) establish a mentoring network, dissemination of information and project outcomes, as well as promote evidence-based strategies for BP in STEM; and (iii) promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts nationally by engaging the community in BP publications in peer-reviewed journals. The NSF LSAMP-NCH will foster human resource development within populations that have been historically underrepresented in STEM. The LSAMP-NCH will build upon the NSF LSAMP history of over 30 years of broadening participation in STEM by providing a nationally unified platform that promotes collaboration, communication, partnership, and dissemination. The NCH will provide mechanisms to assist newly funded LSAMP alliances through linkages with established LSAMP alliances in the areas of evaluation and evidence-based best practices that align with the LSAMP model. The LSAMP program takes a comprehensive approach to student development and retention. 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. Therefore, the project will contribute significantly to broadening participation in academe and science research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.