NSF awards Syracuse University $4 million to recruit “underrepresented” STEM students

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Syracuse University $4 million in federal funding to “recruit and retain historically underrepresented minority students” to pursue STEM careers.

STEM is short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced the funding in a news release that Schumer’s office issued Monday.

Syracuse is the lead institution partner in ULSAMP, “an alliance that seeks to expand, refine, and study best practices for preparing college students for successful transition into four-year STEM programs.” ULSAMP is short for Upstate Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.

The ULSAMP program, which an NSF grant supports, is an alliance of seven Upstate colleges and universities, according to a news release on the OCC website.

Besides Syracuse and OCC, they include Clarkson University, Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Monroe Community College, according to the OCC release.

Syracuse will use the federal investment to create “innovative ways to recruit and retain historically underrepresented minority students,” including those from community colleges, who are interested in pursuing coursework in the STEM fields.

The funding will also support a study, which will “generate new knowledge” related to the recruitment, academic success, and persistence of underrepresented minority students in STEM, “in the hopes of increasing representation.”

“In order for New York to maintain our competiveness in the 21st century global economy and keep our skilled workforce in the region, we must prepare our students with the education they need for the jobs of the future,” Gillibrand said. “That starts with getting more talented students from diverse backgrounds into the STEM pipeline.”

“This federal investment will allow Syracuse [officials] to use their expertise to help underrepresented communities break into the science and engineering world,” Schumer added.

About NSF

The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

NSF funds impact “all 50 states” through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions.

The agency considers more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding annually and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.

NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com