Guillermo Ferreyra - US grants

To stimulate interest and activity in mathematical research, the National Science Foundation each year supports a number of NSF-CBMS Regional Research Conferences in the Mathematical Sciences. Each five-day conference features a distinguished lecturer who delivers ten lectures on a topic of important current research in one sharply focused area of the mathematical sciences. The lecturer subsequently prepares an expository monograph based upon these lectures, which is normally published by the American Mathematical Society or the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, or jointly by the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Certain features differentiate these conferences from typical research conferences. These are: (1) Focus on a single important and timely area of research by a leading practitioner, (2) Continued effect and local stimulation through regional emphasis, (3) Panel review for quality, breadth, and timeliness, and (4) Published monographs for a wider audience. This project will support an NSF-CBMS Regional Research Conference in the Mathematical Sciences on The Mathematics of Control Theory to be held May 30 - June 4, 1991 at Louisiana State University. Professor Ivan Kupka of the University of Toronto will be the principal lecturer.

(99), (59), (21) The College of Engineering and two departments, Mathematics and Experimental Statistics, are increasing the opportunities for academically talented students who are willing, but financially unable to reach their fullest potential. This is being achieved through a student/faculty partnership, with a comprehensive monitoring system, under the sponsorship of the NSF/CSEMS program. About one-fifth of the undergraduate students attending the university during the Fall-1998 (5,537 of 24,773) were eligible to receive a Pell Grant.

The objectives of this project are: (1) to improve the education of students in engineering and mathematics, (2) to increase the retention of students to degree attainment, (3) to increase the number of undergraduates, including minorities and women, receiving baccalaureate degrees in engineering and mathematics, as well as master's degrees in mathematics; (4) to improve the professional development and employment and further higher education placement of participating students, and (5) to strengthen partnerships between institutions of higher education and related employment sectors. The students that are selected will benefit by joining the academic enhancement activities of two unique ongoing NSF/REU programs. The CSEMS scholars will not be required to conduct research but will be offered the opportunity to do so. This project is resulting in students being well-prepared and technically competent engineers and mathematicians.

The 32 students selected each year will participate in research projects of their choice in engineering or mathematics. About half of the 32 students selected CSEMS are minorities and/or and women. The students are co-advised by academic mentors.. The engineering students are juniors and seniors, and the mathematics students are a mix of undergraduate and graduate students. About 25% (4-8) of the students are from the mathematics and experimental statistics departments. Moreover, the addition of graduate students to current projects provides first-hand insight to the undergraduate about graduate studies.

Since mathematics is one of the building blocks for engineers, closer interaction between students and faculty increases the levels of understanding for both. This project expands the learning community and provides an exciting way to enhance students' academic, social and personal success at the university. The investigators believe that this educational program is a successful national model to assist students in gaining the educational skills needed for industry and graduate studies through various sponsored activities including: 1) Retention, 2) Professional Development, 3) Graduate School, and 4) Dissemination.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project, Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program from Baton Rouge Community College to Louisiana State University, namely LSU-BRCC/BB, represents a strategic approach to increase student retention via bridges providing student access to training at the community college and university levels in Louisiana. Within this proposed project, Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) will partner with the Louisiana State University (LSU) College of Science and Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) to train and mentor students in the biomedical & behavioral sciences-related disciplines (or in-short, biological-related sciences that include biology, chemistry, physics, math, computer science, engineering, psychology). The vision of this project is to create a successful model for broadening the participation of underrepresented students. The overall goals of this LSU-BRCC/BB project are to increase the numbers of underrepresented students, who complete an Associate Science (AS) in General Science degree at BRCC, transfer into LSU Bachelor Science (BS) in biological-related sciences program and successfully complete the BS degree. During the five-year period of the project (07/01/12 - 06/30/17), BRCC students will be recruited from various biological and biomedical disciplines. Two types of activities will be developed for this project. Type-1, open to all STEM students at BRCC, consists of four components: (1) Recruitment of High School STEM Students to BRCC; (2) Development of a Peer Tutoring Program in STEM Gateway Courses at BRCC; (3) Professional Development for BRCC STEM Faculty Members; and (4) Articulation of STEM Courses between BRCC and LSU, (iv) BRCC Program Entry Summer Boot Camp;. Type-2, only for selected biological-related sciences students (namely Bridge Students or Bridge Scholars), consists of five components: (1) (1) Individual Mentoring Program for BRCC Students at LSU; (2) Summer Research Program for BRCC Students at LSU; (3) Individual Mentoring Program for BRCC Transferred Students at LSU; and (4) Follow-up Support Programs for BRCC Transferred Students at LSU. By building a solid foundation in science and mentoring, our further goal is to motivate BRCC/LSU Scholars alumni to pursue advanced degrees. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Increasing minority student access to education programs is of the utmost importance to American's national public health agenda because of the role that diversity plays in quality education programs, biomedical research including clinical trials, and physician-patient satisfaction. Recognizing that only 20% of minorities who enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines actually completed a STEM degree, the proposed LSR-BRCC/BB project will focus on increasing access to STEM higher education for minority students and addressing the national need for well-trained minority scientists who have the ability to contribute to the biomedical research and the national public health agenda. The vision of this project is to create a successful model for transferring Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) AS Degree students from underrepresented groups to Louisiana State University (LSU) and support their completion of BS degrees in the biomedical/behavior science disciplines; a transformative model that can be adopted by other partnering institutions nationwide.