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.

The faculty at Auburn has requested funds to support 30 scholarships for four years, focusing on African Americans and women in eight engineering, departments (including computer science), and mathematics. Eighty percent of the awards will be for their undergraduates, the balance for graduate students. Undergraduates and PhD-level students will receive four-year commitments; master's degree students will receive a two-year commitment of support.

The Auburn University Robert Noyce Scholarship Program (AURNSP) builds on the existing fifth year Masters Degree program in Mathematics Education that is designed for students who have a degree in mathematics. Over a four year period, AURNSP is providing two-year scholarships to a total of 23 highly qualified students (16 undergraduates and 7 graduate students) to complete the Masters Degree. The course of study gives the participants the education course work and practicum experience necessary to obtain certification to teach mathematics in Alabama's secondary schools in grades 6-12. The recruitment program includes special attention toward African-American students and male students who could serve as role models for high school students. A mentoring plan being implemented is designed to introduce scholarship students to the teaching environment early and help them to stay in the teaching profession beyond the minimal required commitment. Two Mentoring Workshops are used to identify and train potential mentors.

AURNSP is included in ongoing research efforts by faculty from the Department of Curriculum and Teaching and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. These researchers examine and study the effects of the increased mathematical content knowledge that the Noyce Scholars have and examine how this knowledge impacts on teacher pedagogical content knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning. Furthermore, with yearly examination of the program, researchers are determining how the content courses can be improved to inculcate pedagogical content knowledge and produce an appreciation for mathematics and how it can be used in the classroom to increase secondary students' interest in the mathematical sciences.

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.

This proposal describes a Track 1 project developed by Auburn University in science and mathematics partnerships with the Lee and Macon county school districts. The focus of the GK-12 Fellows in Science and Mathematics for Schools in East-Alabama Project is to place Graduate Fellows from Auburn and Tuskegee Universities in 9-12th grade science and mathematics classrooms to serve as resource persons and assist teachers with instruction. Under the supervision of GK-12 Teachers, the Fellows will assist in laboratories, develop curriculum modules, design activities, provide demos, work one on-one with students, explain concepts to students, and participate in after school enrichment activities. The Fellows will be required to take a course in pedagogy the summer prior to entering the classroom. GK-12 Teachers will attend a two-week professional development workshop over the summer. Both formative and summative evaluation will be conducted periodically to assess the effectiveness of the project.
The project has three main goals. The first goal is to increase student learning, motivation, confidence, achievement, and enrollment in science and mathematics courses in 9-12th grades. The second goal is to increase teacher content knowledge and skills. The third goal is to increase the number of science and mathematics majors that learn about teaching and the learning process.

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.

The AUM Seamless Admission Summer Bridge program for Engineering Students is a potential national model that will provide a welcoming campus environment and immerse participants in a culture of rigor, encouragement, and connectivity within the campus. The emphasis on females will address the continuing low number of women in engineering fields, particularly in graduate education and the professoriate. LSAMP support and engagement will bring in intellectual and material resources to ensure success and bring the national conversation on engineering preparation into the program design and implementation. Students will gain foothold on their college degree program through the advising, strategies for success, tutoring and mentoring, as well as receive a stipend which will allow them to participate and benefit from the activities instead of working during the summer. Students will be exposed to research and career opportunities for a well rounded experience. The faculty have a clear and confident vision of the program. The one-on-one interaction between faculty and students; and other demonstrated experts in the broad scope of engineering fields is important to both faculty and students.
Value added includes the tours of local engineering companies and the US Space and Rocket Center, which will provide access that the students would not otherwise have. The seminars, workshops, and required poster projects broaden the student experience well beyond coursework. The dissemination of lessons learned in the national LSAMP magazine will share the program with a national audience, expanding the potential impact.

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.

This proposal is to prepare 20 students in engineering disciplines admitted to Auburn University, by engaging them into variety of activities needed to successfuly complete a program of study in engineering at Auburn University. This is the second summer bridge program, as the PI has conducted the first bridge program in summer of 2010. This bridge program is to provide mentoring activities, and to enhance the engineering curricula. Academic preparation is a major focus for this summer bridge program. The program provides credit hours of english and pre-calculus courses. Time management, counselor interaction's leadership and communication skills' seminars, are also provided during this 5 weeks bridge program. At least 50% of the students are females.

The students will have an opportunity to learn about college life, how to balance their academic curricula, time management, and communication skills. The students will bond together, and help each other succeed. This bridge summer program will provide them with the gate keeper courses that they need to start a successful engineering freshman year. This program will help increasing the students' retention from the underrepresented groups that are enrolled in engineering programs.

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.

The US-Africa Collaborative Research Network consists of over 40 senior research faculty from US, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada, and Europe forming 4 research teams in Pure Mathematics (Algebra and Geometry, Analysis and Topology, Coding Theory and Information Theory, and Graph Theory) and 3 research teams in Applied Mathematics (Epidemiological Modeling, Numerical Approximation of Solutions of Partial Differential Equations, and Mathematics of Finance and Statistics). Each team has at least 4 senior research faculty and at least 4 undergraduate and graduate students. Student participants are recruited from across the US and Sub-Saharan Africa. The primary goal of the network is to produce, by the end of the project period, (a) at least 8 high quality new PhDs in the US and a similar number in Sub-Saharan Africa, (b) numerous high quality joint research publications, and (c) several prominent US-Africa research partnerships consisting of researchers from diverse backgrounds; and thus have long lasting impact on mathematical sciences research collaboration and human infrastructure in the US and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The research problems being studied have important applications in industry and government as well as in scientific research. In particular, coding theory, graph theory, and number theoretic problems being studied have applications in security, network coverage, surveillance, and transportation, while algebra, geometry, and analysis problems have applications to mathematical biology, differential equations, finance, and statistics. In turn, problems in mathematical biology and differential equations have applications in the spread of contagious diseases, tumor growth and cell membrane deformation, and biodiversity; and problems in finance and statistics will provide a better understanding of the use of financial mathematical models in developing nations. This award is jointly supported by the Division of Mathematical Sciences and the Office of Multidisicplinary Activities within the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

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.

Tuskegee University is leading a team of Alabama institutions, which includes Auburn University, Alabama A&M University, Auburn University Montgomery, Southern Union State Junior College, and Lawson State Community College, with support from Oakland University to implement a collaborative S-STEM project titled "Making to Advance Knowledge, Excellence, and Recognition in STEM" (MAKERS). The MAKERS project will provide scholarships to up to 158 students majoring in the biological, physical, mathematical, geological, and computer and information sciences; engineering; and associated technology areas. The MAKERS team will implement and assess a comprehensive list of hierarchical, evidence-based interventions designed to facilitate transfer, increase persistence and retention, and prepare Scholars for graduation and future careers in STEM fields. The MAKERS S-STEM model is designed to attenuate the potential factors that decrease persistence of low-income students in STEM degree programs by integrating STEM enrichment, research, and peripheral activities. The nature of many of the MAKERS project components and the wide range of institutional contexts show promise for improving outcomes for students at other institutions with similar demographics while capitalizing on their existing resources. MAKERS' hallmark intervention will be "Learning by Making," which will involve interdisciplinary Scholar clusters identifying and investigating problems affecting their local communities, and applying their STEM knowledge to "make" a product that has the potential to solve those problems.

The major objectives of MAKERS are to: (1) increase student retention and graduation rates; (2) prepare students with the STEM academic foundation, professional skills and experiences needed to enter the STEM workforce or graduate school in STEM disciplines; and (3) investigate the MAKERS model's impact on recruitment, retention, success, and graduation of students in the target population and majors. The MAKERS project is innovative because, rather than focusing solely on developing the students' academic potential or restructuring institutional variables, it will empower students as active agents in their education by creating connections between their majors and the local community, mitigating potential inhibiting factors in the students' social context. Three unique aspects of the project - immersion of scholars in the "Learning by Making" process; strong cross-institutional social and professional networks; and the use of online platforms for support and collaboration - have the potential to transform the learning process for these students, helping them develop a STEM identity, fostering agency, and persisting to degree completion. A team of evaluation experts will continuously assess its interventions using mixed methods and provide feedback to the investigators to identify new best practices that will be added to the extant knowledge base on broadening participation of low-income groups in STEM fields.

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.

Mathematics is critical for student success in all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Furthermore, undergraduate success in mathematics courses is an increasingly critical piece of the growing national need to train the next generation of STEM professionals. Difficulty in completing mathematics courses often prevents undergraduate students from reaching their goals of obtaining a STEM degree and entering the STEM workforce. This collaborative research project at the University of Colorado Denver, Auburn University, and the University of Memphis aims to improve the completion of undergraduate mathematics courses by enhancing the instructional preparation of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in the Mathematical Sciences. Providing an effective model of GTA training that encompasses a wide variety of evidence-based approaches has the potential to improve GTA classroom practices, which in turn may increase undergraduate learning in the classes the GTAs teach. This project will investigate this possibility by examining how improvements to GTA training affect undergraduate student learning, particularly in lower-division undergraduate mathematics courses that are often required for STEM majors. In addition, teaching undergraduates is a significant part of the professional responsibilities of mathematics faculty, regardless of their range of appointments from community colleges to large research universities. Thus, this training will also result in a cadre of mathematical sciences faculty who are better prepared to use effective practices to increase undergraduate student success in early college mathematics.

The project will conduct a multi-part, three-institution research study, with the intended purpose of investigating the effects on GTAs during and after the time they complete their multi-component, enhanced instructional and pedagogical training at the University of Colorado Denver, Auburn University, and the University of Memphis. The project will use and refine several components initially developed by the CU Denver Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences GTA preparation program. These components include providing participating GTAs with: (1) a deep understanding, grounded in relevant literature, of pertinent issues in undergraduate mathematical sciences instruction; (2) opportunities to be mentored by peers and faculty; (3) opportunities to provide peer-mentoring of other GTAs; (4) outreach opportunities to local K-12 students in order to gain a broader understanding of their future students' academic trajectories; and (5) participation in a cross-institutional "Critical Issues in STEM Education" seminar. Research will include the analysis of data on undergraduate student performance and success, retention and satisfaction, a longitudinal qualitative and quantitative analysis of observations of GTA classrooms, an examination of how the training program impacts GTA perceptions of mathematics teaching and learning, and a qualitative analysis on the ways the peer-mentor relationship affects inexperienced and experienced GTAs, both in and out of their classrooms. The diverse contexts of the participating institutions will provide the opportunity for rich comparisons and greater insight into mechanisms that can facilitate broader adoption of project components at other institutions around the country.

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.

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.