Overtoun Jenda - US grants

Sophomores, juniors, and seniors from colleges and universities in Alabama and nearby states will assemble for eight weeks at Auburn University, in the summers of 1999 and 2000, to conduct research in discrete mathematics and algebra in the Department of Discrete and Statistical Sciences.

During the first week of the session, participants will be given an intensive introduction to a selection of specific open problems or problem areas. During the second week, they will be given helpful observations and deeper background on the problems. Participants will be asked to decide on a ``major'' problem or problem area for their summer's work at the beginning of the third week. Although anyone may work on anything thereafter, each participant will be expected to concentrate on their problem, usually in collaboration with others, and to make short presentations of background literature and of progress made in daily seminars and problem sessions. Each problem group will be expected to prepare a written summary of their work at the end of the eight weeks and to deliver an oral presentation of the summary, with the presentation to be apportioned among the group members. If publishable results are achieved, the achievers will decide among themselves how results should be written up, but faculty mentors will help out in matters of format, protocol, and getting the paper typed. In case the mentors later achieve publishable results based on work of student participants, the students will be duly listed as co-authors of any papers resulting.

Communication will be maintained with those participants that wish it, for the purpose of conducting further research, for recruiting for subsequent programs or graduate study, and for assessing the impact of their participation in the project on their lives.

Eight participants will spend 8 weeks at Auburn University during the summer of 2005 working on problems in Discrete Mathematics and Algebra. The first two weeks will serve as orientation and introduction, with two formal meetings per day, plus at least an hour of computer lab. During this period, participants will be given some of the necessary background for research in the areas of interest, and will be introduced to problems and classes of problems that they might work on. In addition, each participant will be asked to prepare an "ice-breaker" presentation. These presentations will be completed by the end of the third week, by which time the participants, in collaboration with each other, the project directors, and interested faculty and graduate students in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Auburn University, will be working on particular problems.

Regular meetings will continue, with talks by the participants, faculty, graduate students, and visiting luminaries. Participants will write up their research findings during the course of the summer to be submitted to the project directors at the end of the program. During the last week of the program, each participant will give a final presentation describing his/her work. At the conclusion of the program, participants will be asked to write a critique of their experience, and of the program overall.

ADVANCE Auburn: SEM Transformation through "Small Wins" will develop, adapt, and implement the "small wins" approach for producing lasting change for increasing the representation, participation, advancement and success rate of women faculty in science, engineering and mathematics (SEM) disciplines. The "small wins" approach (Meyerson and Fletcher, 2000) advocates transforming a workplace through a series of small positive changes used to improve the working environment for those who are disproportionately affected by unsupportive and oftentimes inconsiderate practices in the workplace. Since the changes produced by "small wins" are incremental and locally driven, the approach is non-threatening and more easily accepted by an entrenched culture such as often exists in the SEM academic disciplines. Successive "small wins" build upon themselves such that substantive and lasting changes in the work environment and culture are achieved and assimilated over time. This award will develop and apply the "small wins" approach to transform the SEM disciplines at Auburn University and, subsequently, at other institutions.

The "Alabama Alliance for Students with Disabilities in STEM" is a collaborative effort involving Auburn University, Tuskegee University, Alabama State University, and Auburn University at Montgomery, Central Alabama Community College, Southern Union Community College, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, and six school districts in East-Central Alabama: Lee, Chambers, Elmore, Montgomery, Macon, and Tallapoosa County school systems. The Alliance has the following four major goals:

Goal 1: Increase the Quality of Students with Disabilities Completing Associate and Baccalaureate Degrees in STEM Disciplines;

Goal 2: Increase the Number of Students with Disabilities Completing Associate and Baccalaureate Degrees in STEM Disciplines and entering STEM graduate degrees or STEM workforce;

Goal 3: Increase the Number of Students with Disabilities Completing Graduate Degrees in STEM Disciplines; and

Goal 4: Increase the number of high school students with disabilities going to college.

This unique Alliance, which includes two Historically Black Universities, Tuskegee University and Alabama State University, builds upon established STEM bridge programs to include female and minority students with disabilities. The Alabama Alliance has an internal evaluation team and an external evaluator who will lead the independent formative and summative project evaluations, Dr. Abbot Packard, from the University of West Georgia.

Eight undergraduates will assemble for eight weeks at Auburn University in each of the summers 2010-2012 to conduct research in areas of algebra and discrete mathematics. Our aim is to provide participants with an authentic research experience and get them excited about graduate school and research careers. The essential part of our program is that we lay out a lot of research problems, and participants can work on any one of them with anybody. The pattern of activities will therefore be as in our previous REU programs: intensive introduction to problems and problem areas in the first two to three weeks, capped by an obligatory "ice-breaker" presentation by each participant in the third week, followed by a "research institute" in the remaining five weeks, capped by a final presentation by each participant at the end of the final week.

During the research institute phase, there will be at least one research presentation every day, by faculty and graduate students of our Department of Mathematics and Statistics, visiting luminaries, and the participants themselves. But the main feature of that phase will be research carried on by the participants, in various combinations with faculty, graduate students, and themselves. Publishable results will be written up either by the participants themselves, with advice from the project directors, or, in the case of joint work with faculty, by a faculty member in consultation with the participant(s). Communication will be maintained with participants after the program ends for the purpose of conducting further research, presenting results at national conferences, recruiting for subsequent programs or graduate study, and for assessing the impact of the program on their lives.

The US-Africa Advanced Study Institute and Workshop Series in Mathematical Sciences is a collaborative effort between US and African mathematicians. This program has three main goals: (1) strengthen the US and Southern African human infrastructure in mathematical sciences research, (2) increase and sustain research collaboration between US and Southern African mathematicians, and (3) improve research collaboration between US and Southern African colleges and universities. The Masamu Project (masamu means mathematics in Southern Africa) will be an ongoing professional development program that will enhance the capability of participants to continue to collaborate on research after the Institute and Workshop.

The 2011 US-Africa Advanced Study Institute will be held in Livingstone, Zambia on November 21 - December 1, 2011. The Advanced Studies Institute will focus on analysis, dynamical systems, and mathematical biology, and the follow-on workshop will center on mathematical modeling of biological systems. For 15 days, 13 US and 13 African advanced graduate students and early career faculty will undergo rigorous training and will work collaboratively on research under the supervision and guidance of 9 US, African, and European research mathematicians. Participants will also attend a panel discussion on careers in mathematical sciences. Furthermore, heads and chairs from US and Southern Africa will have an opportunity to attend a one-day workshop that will focus on cultivating sustained cooperation between and among US and Southern African Mathematical Sciences Departments.

Funding for this award is being provided by the Division of Mathematical Sciences, with co-funding from the Office of International Science and Engineering.

Auburn University, Alabama State University, Tuskegee University and Vanderbilt University will lead this Design and Development Launch Pilot to form the SouthEast Alliance for Persons with Disabilities in STEM (SEAPD-STEM), eventually creating a network of 21 universities and colleges, as well as additional community colleges and high schools, in the southeastern U.S. and Washington, DC. This project was created in response to the Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) program solicitation (NSF 16-544). The INCLUDES program is a comprehensive national initiative designed to enhance U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) discoveries and innovations focused on NSF's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and broadening participation in these fields. The INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilots represent bold, innovative ways for solving a broadening participation challenge in STEM.

The full participation of all of America's STEM talent is critical to the advancement of science and engineering for national security, health and prosperity. Our nation is advancing knowledge and practices to address the STEM education practices for recruiting, better educating, retaining and graduating STEM secondary and postsecondary students with disabilities (SWDs) at our nation's high schools, colleges and universities. However SWDs historically underperform in STEM at the secondary and postsecondary levels. This project, NSF INCLUDES: SEAPD-STEM, has the potential to significantly advance a collaborative approach by a group of organizations to improve the success of SWDs in STEM disciplines.

The project builds on the existing Alabama Alliance for Students with Disabilities in STEM (AASD-STEM), a NSF-funded model, and includes a plan to form a larger regional alliance focused on training STEM SWDs across the academic pathway from high school through postdoctoral training and entry into faculty positions. The collaboration addresses five goals: (1) To increase the quality and quantity of SWDs completing associate, undergraduate, and graduate degrees in STEM disciplines and entering the STEM workforce, (2) To increase the quality and quantity of post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty with disabilities in STEM fields, (3) To improve academic performance of students with disabilities in secondary level science and mathematics courses, (4) To enhance communication and collaboration among post-secondary institutions in addressing the education of SWDs in STEM disciplines, and (5) To assess project activities to understand what works to support the matriculation and retention of STEM SWDs in science followed by broad dissemination through workshops, conference presentations, webinars, and peer-reviewed publications. The team proposes the following project activities in the pilot: (1) Implementing a Bridge Model at 13 partner institutions, including Alabama State University, Auburn University, Auburn University Montgomery, Gallaudet University, Jackson State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Southern Union State Community College, Troy University, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama Birmingham, the University of Tennessee, the University of West Georgia and Xavier University of Louisiana (2) Implementing SEAPD-STEM training workshops, (3) Implementing NSF INCLUDES Alliances planning workshops in each participating state, at Kennesaw State University, Tougaloo College, the University of Alabama in Hunstville, Vanderbilt University and Xavier University of Louisiana, (4) Gathering enrollment, retention, and graduation baseline data for STEM SWDs by race, ethnicity, and gender at 21 colleges and universities institutions, (5) Identifying high schools and school districts for each of the participating institutions for outreach activities, (6) Adding at least one community college to partner with SEAPD-STEM college or university, (7) Engaging additional partners including national and local labs, non-profits, federal agencies, industry, foundations, and state governments for additional funding and/or internships for participating SEAPD-STEM students. The project team will implement a plan to scale approaches and develop an alliance of institutions to maximize potential project outcomes now and in the future.

The Greater Alabama Black Belt Region (GABBR) Alliance goals are to (1) increase the quantity and quality of underrepresented minority STEM degrees, (2) increase the quantity and quality of underrepresented minority undergraduates entering graduate school, and (3) investigate and disseminate the project's impact on recruitment, retention, success, and graduation of target students. The Alliance uses contemporary mentoring strategies to create a network of scholars who are adequately supported through research-focused interventions, public-private partnerships, and study abroad programs to enhance the quality of STEM education for its scholars as they progress through the STEM pathway (pre-college, first two years of college, and last two years of college). The knowledge and findings that is being generated by the project illuminates factors central to promoting interest and persistence in STEM studies and in STEM career trajectories for URMs, especially those from rural communities.

GABBR Alliance consists of eight colleges and universities: Alabama State University, Auburn University, Auburn University Montgomery, Enterprise State Community College, Southern Union State Community College, Troy University, Tuskegee University, and University of West Alabama; and two national laboratories: Brookhaven National Laboratory Center and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. GABBR encompasses 17 counties in the Alabama Black Belt and three counties adjacent to the Alabama Black Belt.

Within these counties and at the partner institutions, GABBR aims at increasing the number of underrepresented minority STEM bachelor and associate degrees by 100% in five years, from 422 to 844 and 91 to 182, respectively.

Persons with disabilities are one of the most significantly underrepresented groups in STEM education and employment, comprising a disproportionately smaller percentage of STEM degrees and jobs compared to their percentages in the U.S. population. The NSF INCLUDES Alliance of Students with Disabilities for Inclusion, Networking, and Transition Opportunities in STEM, also known as the NSF INCLUDES TAPDINTO-STEM Alliance, will employ a collective impact approach with dozens of partnering organizations to increase the number of students with disabilities (SWDs) who complete associate, baccalaureate and graduate STEM degrees and enter the STEM workforce. Auburn University is leading this NSF INCLUDES Alliance’s primary partnerships with five institutions of higher education (IHE) that will direct regional hubs of collaborating IHEs to address this national need. The hubs will be championed by Auburn University (Southeastern Hub), Northern Arizona University (Mountain Hub), The Ohio State University (Northeastern Hub), the University of Hawaii-Manoa (Islands Hub), the University of Missouri-Kansas City (Midwest Hub) and the University of Washington (West Coast Hub). The NSF INCLUDES Alliance partners include 27 IHEs with three professional organizations: The Association of University Centers on Disability, the Association on Higher Education And Disability and the Learning Disabilities Association of America. The partners will expand the NSF INCLUDES TAPDINTO-STEM Alliance to include over 50 IHEs to address the broadening participation vision of increasing the education of SWDs in STEM at the post-secondary academic levels and their transitions to STEM employment. The University of Missouri-Kansas City serves as the backbone organization, led by Alexis Petri, to support communication, engagement, networked systems, data collection and analyses, sustainability, scaling and dissemination. An internal evaluation will be led by Auburn University personnel, and a team of external evaluators will be led by Linda P. Thurston, who is a professor emerita at Kansas State University.

The primary project work targets three objectives, two focused on students and the other on institutions: 1) Increasing the quantity of SWDs completing associate, undergraduate, and graduate degrees in STEM; 2) Facilitating the transitions of SWDs from STEM degree completion into the STEM workforce; and 3) Enhancing communication and collaboration among IHEs, industry, government, national labs, and local communities in addressing the education needs of SWDs in STEM disciplines. To support SWDs in successfully completing their degrees, the NSF INCLUDES TAPDINTO-STEM Alliance will provide professional development for faculty, staff and STEM professionals to increase their formal involvement, as mentors and research collaborators, with SWDs. Furthermore, the Alliance will increase collaboration among IHEs, industry, government, national labs, and communities to address the education needs of SWDs in STEM disciplines, leading to increased opportunities for SWDs in internships, apprenticeships and employment in the STEM workforce. Additionally, each of the Alliance’s hub institutions will lead a research study about SWDs in STEM. The Auburn University team, which leads the Southeast Hub, will investigate the relationship between student background experiences and dispositions (e.g., student demographics, family background, motivation, academic efficacy) and persistence; and they will study the relationship between organizational context factors and student experiences on student commitment, persistence, and academic retention. The Northern Arizona University team, which leads the Mountain Hub, will investigate, using an intersectionality lens, what are the disconnections and gaps between: a) the experiences of students related to bias, discrimination and stigma; b) the information and messaging available to IHE faculty and staff pertaining to inclusion and recognizing intersectionality; and c) IHE faculty and staff perceptions that perpetuate bias, discrimination and stigma. The Northeast Hub team, led by The Ohio State University, will study what support services used by students with autism spectrum disorders promote academic success and are valued by students; and which academic, social and employment experiences are correlated with increased employment outcomes. The Islands Hub team, led by the University of Hawaii-Manoa, will investigate how a variety of factors (e.g., historical, social, cultural, disability, and personal) facilitate or impede the development of student attitudes toward and access to postsecondary education in STEM, identity development in STEM, and persistence towards and graduation with a STEM degree. The Midwest Hub team, led by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, will examine how the student success model each NSF INCLUDES TAPDINTO-STEM Alliance institution implements increases the access, entry, progress and completion of students in their programs; and they will study how the student success model each institution implements aids in the transition of students from college to the workforce. The University of Washington team, which leads the West Coast Hub, will compare information from the NSF INCLUDES TAPDINTO-STEM Alliance students with data from an ongoing longitudinal study to examine which interventions students regard as most valuable, investigate patterns linking student demographics or interests with the interventions used, and study suggestions for improving or expanding interventions. Together, this research will advance knowledge about the STEM academic pathways of SWDs and their transitions to the workforce.

This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is primarily funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale. The Alliance is jointly funded by the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program.

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.