Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate-Transformation
Dr. B.K. Robertson, Professor of Microbiology and Director for Graduate Programs in
the biological sciences and co-PIs Dr. Mamie Coats, Assistant Professor of Microbiology,
Dr. Alain Waffo, Associate Professor of Biology have recently been awarded a grant
by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase the number of Underrepresented
minorities in the STEM Professoriate. The project entitled 鈥淐ollaborative Research:
The Tuskegee Alliance to Develop, Implement and Study a Virtual Graduate Education
Model for Underrepresented Minorities in STEM,鈥� is a multi-institutional project led
by Tuskegee University in collaboration with 海角直播 and Auburn University.
鈥淣SF鈥檚 investment in the Tuskegee Alliance to forge Pathways to STEM Academic Careers (T-PAC) project reflects NSF鈥檚 commitment to broadening the participation of Underrepresented minorities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM),鈥� said NSF program director Mark Leddy, who leads the foundation鈥檚 Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. The project will utilize a unique set of interventions that will be developed by T-PAC and investigated for their effectiveness.
The T-PAC team consists of a diverse mix of faculty members with expertise in STEM areas, education and social sciences, who will work on the development, implementation and study of the proposed virtual graduate education model. Using online applications and social media, this model will be used to educate and mentor graduate students to support their advancement. T-PAC is a part of six other active collaborative alliances in the country.
鈥楾he AGEP Transformation project draws on the expertise of three Alabama universities with a strong record of federally funded grants to advance a new STEM education model for Underrepresented minorities,鈥� Leddy said. 鈥淚t is exciting that T-PAC will include online professional development components which will contribute to the model development and implementation and which will ultimately lead toward increasing the diversity of academe and the broader STEM workforce.