SUNY LSAMP 2010 Bridge to the Doctorate: BD Site Univeristy at Buffalo

The State University of New York (SUNY) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (SUNY LSAMP), under the leadership of SUNY-Stony Brook, will support 12 additional post-baccalaureate students duirng the 2010-2012 Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) program at the University of Buffalo. This program builds on previous program efforts that have not only significantly added to the graduate enrollment and masters and doctoral degrees to students from underreprested minority (UREP) populations but have also led to important changes in the culture and practice of STEM education in ways that not only help UREP students but all graduate STEM students. The project adds to current efforts by SUNY LSAMP to build research capacity in STEM education in the area of graduate education. The lessons learned from the study of the Bridge to the Doctorate Program will be put into the context of broader issues of systemic change and disseminated to a broad national audience. Using the lessons learned from this project, the alliance expects to continue to develop and refine strategies that will increase the recruitment and retention of graduate students and further diversify graduate education departments. The strategy has the potenital to increase the number of UREP STEM students who successfully complete doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines and make changes in STEM departmental culture and practice.