Goals and Objectives

Goals

1. To increase the percentage of STEM graduates from underrepresented minorities to match those of White/Asian students pursuing a STEM degree.
2. To increase opportunities for Nutmeg State LSAMP Fellows to gain real-world experience in a STEM field.
3. To create a sense of being a scientist and belonging within an academic STEM community as well as within the university as their academic home.
4. To increase our network of industry partners across the four institutions.
5. To build more collaborations between the STEM departments at the Connecticut State Universities.

Objectives

1. For the next five years, at each campus, build a cohort of 15 to 20 underrepresented minorities.
2. Offer a two-week summer bridge program for first-year students focusing on success in the mathematics and gateway STEM courses, as well as strategies for success.
3. Offer a first-year seminar series given by a CSU professor or member of industry on a topic of interest to the students. The seminar will be given at one campus and broadcast to the others. The week after the seminar will be spent in follow-up discussions about the topic covered.
4. Create interdisciplinary teams to solve project-based learning projects given by industry partners or CSU professors.
5. Take advantage of established mentoring programs and industry partners to connect students with research and internship opportunities.
6. Promote the LSAMP program to Connecticut industries and develop opportunities for summer internships and future employment opportunities and open up a pipeline for resident internships.
7. Assess current supports available to STEM and underrepresented students to determine which will be effective to help increase the number of successful Nutmeg State LSAMP Scholars.
8. Design, deliver, and assess prospective educational components during the grant cycle to help increase the number of successful Nutmeg State LSAMP Scholars.
9. Provide regular virtual and on-campus forums to build informal networks of students and faculty across campuses in the Alliance.
10. Hold CSU-wide faculty development sessions at which STEM faculty can share best practices.
11. Develop protocols to evaluate and strengthen retention of underrepresented minorities in STEM and disseminate successful retention models to other academic institutions.
12. Make Nutmeg State LSAMP educational and programming tools and best practices available to other LSAMP programs, colleges and universities.