In the last five years, the Houston-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (H-LSAMP), led by UH and consisting of seven other academic institutions of higher education, is one of the most successful in the nation and on track to achieve its goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minority students who graduate with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, according to independent external evaluators of the National Science Foundation (NSF) program.

Preparing students for entry into graduate programs, an important goal of H-LSAMP is to increase the number of doctoral graduates and professors of Hispanic, African-American, Native American and Pacific Islander descent in STEM fields to ensure that scientific advancements reflect the needs of all sectors of our society. Established in 1999, H-LSAMP has been approved for phase II of the program with another five-year NSF grant in the amount of $5 million, starting Oct. 1, 2004.

H-LSAMP is charged with a new vision for phase II to serve as a national model and resource for other academic institutions. Currently, the University of Houston leads the consortium of six universities and two community colleges in the H-LSAMP, consisting of UH, Texas Southern University, UH-Downtown, UH-Victoria, Rice University, Texas State University, Houston Community College System and San Jacinto College District. The group also enjoys a good partnership with Houston Independent School District, which endorses and promotes H-LSAMP efforts to inform high school students of opportunities for university study in STEM fields, heavily recruiting eligible students to attend institutions in the alliance.

"The Houston LSAMP program is one of th
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Contact: Lisa Merkl
lkmerkl@uh.edu
713-743-8192
University of Houston
30-Sep-2004