CeMaST

Louis Stokes Alliance For Minority Participation (LSAMP)

In 1992 the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated the Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP) Program, a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, undergraduate effort, to increase the number of minority students who receive bachelor degrees in the sciences, mathematics, technology, and teacher education programs in these fields. The Program was later named the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program to honor the Congressman from Ohio who was a staunch advocate for this and similar programs. Currently, thirty alliances receive NSF funding for LSAMP programs.

The LSAMP Program supports undergraduate systemic reform strategies that ensure America has a globally competitive and ethnically diverse workforce. NSF guidelines require participating institutions "to develop infrastructure and management plans that would ensure long-term continuation of program activities beyond the term of NSF support." LSAMP projects should incorporate activities that (1) recruit targeted students to a discipline in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) or to a teacher-education related field in those disciplines, (2) provide them with support that ensures their retention and graduation, and (3) upon graduation, ensure training for their participation in the workforce.

A Chicago-based Alliance for Minority Participation Program (ChAMP) was established in 1993 as a consortium of eighteen Chicago-area universities and community colleges with administrative leadership at Chicago State University. When the Consortium was encouraged to expand the program to other areas and institutions in Illinois which enrolled substantial numbers of minority students, Illinois State was invited to join. Responding to the invitation, the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology (CeMaST) developed a proposal that was subsequently approved for funding by the Illinois LSAMP consortium. At Illinois State, LSAMP is sponsored through the cooperative efforts of CeMaST and the Minority Student Academic Center (MSAC).

One of the objectives of CeMaST is the development and implementation of programs to enhance opportunities for students from underrepresented populations to enter careers in mathematics, science, and technology. ISU-LSAMP is based on CeMaST initiatives already underway, and initiatives under development in other Illinois State departments. Those departments include Applied Computer Science, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geography/Geology, Industrial Technology, Mathematics, Physics, and Curriculum and Instruction. Other departments, for example, Agriculture, Health Sciences, and departments in the College of Business, have student majors who are eligible for LSAMP support.

The basic goal of the ISU-LSAMP program is to significantly increase the number of graduates from underrepresented ethnic minority groups who receive degrees in science, mathematics, and technology disciplines, including those who become certified to teach in these disciplines. The following objectives have been formulated for achieving the goal:

  1. To develop an infrastructure and a management plan for sustaining and institutionalizing successful initiatives designed to accomplish the project goal.
  2. To enhance and initiate academic support activities for minority students in the targeted disciplines and related teacher education programs.
  3. To increase the number of minorities certified to teach (at all levels) in the targeted disciplines.
  4. To establish links in the educational pipeline in order to provide a continuum of advocacy and support for minority students who major in the targeted disciplines.
  5. To develop strategies to encourage and recruit minority students to pursue learning and career opportunities in areas associated with the targeted disciplines.
  6. To establish a data base of information for the ISU LSAMP Program that would facilitate:
    • The tracking of students who participate in LSAMP-funded initiatives,
    • Annual/periodic reporting of enrollments, activities and degrees, and
    • Measuring and evaluating program progress and accountabilit

Services offered by the LS-AMP program through the Minority Student Academic Center (MSAC) at Illinois State University include:

  • Academic support and academic success monitoring
  • Tutorial Assistance
  • Computer/Study Lab with free laser printing
  • Study skills, presentation skills and career workshops
  • Financial assistance for participation in research projects and designated research conferences
  • A paid faculty mentorship program
  • A monetary award program based on academic performance and program participation
  • Illinois State University LS-AMP newsletter published once a semester
  • Inclusion in research oppotunities

For application information contact:

The Minority Student Academic Center
Illinois State University
Campus Box 4061
Normal, IL 61790-4061
Email: msac@ilstu.edu
Phone: (309) 438-3159
Fax: (309) 438-3160

 


LSAMP Students and Faculty at the Argonne National Conference Fall 2000

 

Other Programs of Interest

CeMaST personnel link students in the following programs with faculty and industry mentors in order to build an infrastructure of support for students and mentors. The ISU-LSAMP Program complements several other Illinois State initiatives. For example:

  • CeMaST sponsors a four-week residential summer enrichment program Students Integrating Mathematics, Science, and Technology (SIMaST), which is conducted for minority students aged 12 to 14 years from schools in Illinois, designed to load minority students into the pipeline at an early stage of their educational development.
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) support the Bridge Program in Medicine and Biology for Minority Students, which brings students to campus for an 8-10 week research experience.
  • Another summer experience at Illinois State is the Minority High School Scholars Actuarial Academy, which is a one week program sponsored by the Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State and Allstate Insurance designed for academically talented minority high school students who excel in mathematics.
  • CeMaST also offers the Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarship (CSEMS), funded by the National Science Foundation, to academically talented students with financial need majoring in those fields at Illinois State.
  • CeMaST has developed an innovative Integrated Mathematics, Science and Technology (IMaST) curriculum for the middle school grades.