| NSF Org: |
EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 24, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 7, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 1826900 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Tyrslai Williams
tyrwilli@nsf.gov (703)292-8445 EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2025 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $4,000,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $4,000,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $800,000.00 FY 2021 = $400,000.00 FY 2022 = $2,000,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
200 UNIVERSTY OFC BUILDING RIVERSIDE CA US 92521-0001 (951)827-5535 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1100 Hinderaker Hall, Univ of CA Riverside CA US 92521-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Alliances-Minority Participat. |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001920DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002122DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002223DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002324DB NSF STEM Education |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) 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 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. These strategies facilitate the production of well-prepared students highly-qualified and motivated to pursue graduate education or careers in STEM.
For the United States (U.S.) to remain globally competitive, it is vital that it taps into the talent of all its citizens and provides exceptional educational preparedness in STEM areas that underpin the knowledge-based economy. The California Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) program was established in 1991 in response to the need for a more diverse and skilled technical workforce. That need still exists and is particularly acute in the State of California. Participating institutions include the University of California (UC) Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. The goals for the CAMP STEM Pathways and Research Alliance are to: (1) steadily and substantially increase the quality and quantity of minority students enrolled in STEM majors, (2) increase and sustain baccalaureate degree production, (3) expand undergraduate research opportunities, (4) increase enrollment in STEM graduate education programs, and (5) document the effectiveness of CAMP through robust evaluation and assessment. These goals support the National Science Foundation's strategic goal to "cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce, and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens." The goals will be accomplished by enhanced student recruitment, selection and orientations; providing transfer students with additional academic and social support; faculty-mentored research programs; science writing through critical thinking; enrichment through attendance at symposia and travel to conferences; GRE preparation and guided graduate school applications; and organized annual conferences to showcase student research and inform students about STEM internship and job opportunities. The said activities will produce higher rates of retention and graduation; and moreover, lead to a more talented and diverse STEM workforce.
The knowledge generating research study will elucidate how faculty mentoring and the shared experience of presenting research at conferences impacts persistence and graduation rates in STEM fields as well as underrepresented minority student social-emotional parameters. The research project will provide a valuable data set that can be shared across California and the nation to further increase the impact of LSAMP on increasing the diversity of STEM professionals in the workforce. An external evaluation team will implement both quantitative and qualitative instruments to assess the overall quality of the programs on the individual campuses as well as the entire alliance related to the overall goals of the project.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The University of California Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) includes all nine undergraduate campuses of the University of California: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. As one of the original alliances, CAMP transitioned to a STEM Pathways and Research Alliance in 2017 and successfully achieved the following goals:
1. Collected data on evidence of student mentoring by faculty, student research involvement, student participation in research, and participation in STEM activities in addition to those supported by CAMP.
2. Substantially increased the number of faculty members engaged in mentorship of CAMP students.
3. Collected demographic data on STEM faculty members who participated in CAMP including those that participated in LSAMP or similar programs as undergraduates.
4. Collected and analyzed data on student and faculty participation on under-represented minority students in the program.
5. Disseminated data across the Alliance on student and faculty-mentor participation in the program.
6. Developed and executed survey instruments that measured interpersonal trust between CAMP students and their faculty mentors.as well as social-emotional assessments of CAMP students ultimately related to students’ success as STEM undergraduates.
Major Accomplishments:
- During this time period, the University of California system increased the number of URM STEM graduates from approximately 3800 in 2018 to 5300 in 2024, a 40% increase.
- Seven of the nine campuses in the Alliance are now classified as Hispanic Serving Institutions (the remaining two are classified as emerging HSIs) with Riverside, Merced, and Santa Cruz each receiving the Seal of Excelencia during the grant period.
- With assistance from all nine campuses in the alliance, CAMP continued to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic providing alternative research and other programing opportunities during that time.
- Delivered eight presentations on various psycho-social factors that lead to CAMP student success; disseminated results in one research paper currently under review; produced six annual reports from the external evaluator that was disseminated to the alliance campuses.
Intellectual Merit:
California, as one of the nation's most diverse and populous states, has an increasing need to increase the diversity of its STEM workforce by increasing the retention or URM STEM students and increasing the graduation rates of those students. The CAMP Alliance worked collaboratively with all members of the partnership as well as LSAMP partners around the state and the nation to institutionalize effective mechanisms for recruitment, retention, and success of programs. Every program in the alliance provide student services to CAMP students including advising, student success programs, faculty mentored research support, peer mentoring, and supplemental instruction. An annual research symposium was hosted in Southern California each February and students presented the results of their research to a panel of faculty judges. A governance board including representatives for each of the University of California chancellors and a steering group consisting of individual campus staff, faculty, and administrative provided guidance on all CAMP-related activities. The external evaluation team implemented both quantitative and qualitative instruments to assess the overall quality of the programs on the individual campuses as well as that of the entire alliance related to the overall goals of the project. A separate social-science researcher worked with the various members of the alliance staff and the external evaluators, to analyze and contextualize the findings and disseminate those findings through appropriate outlets.
Broader Impacts:
The California Alliance provide evidence for institutional change that serves as a national model for increasing the number of under-represented minority undergraduates who successfully complete STEM degrees. Alliance partners shared information with the external evaluators and the social science researcher who analyzed and disseminated the findings through presentations at professional meetings, publications in peer reviewed journals, social media outlets, and white papers. These research findings will ultimately result in sharing best practices with colleges and universities, as well as all LSAMP programs, around the country and will be maintained on a CAMP website through the next iteration of the project that will be overseen by the University Office of the President.
Last Modified: 05/08/2025
Modified by: Richard A Cardullo
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