The Texas A&M System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TAMUS LSAMP) is a partnership comprised of Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi and Prairie View A&M University, committed to increasing the number of underrepresented students participating in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) program designed to foster achievement in minority students seeking degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The goal is to increase the number of minority students who complete baccalaureate and doctoral degrees in STEM fields and, ultimately, enter the ranks of the faculty.

LSAMP students enjoy enriching experiences, such as personal development and leadership development activities, as well as activities to strengthen academic learning. Activities include participation in cohort-based learning communities, supplemental instruction, mentoring relationships with faculty and more experienced students, an annual LSAMP symposium, research conferences, undergraduate research experiences, industry and laboratory internships, and networks for STEM opportunity information updates.

When the program began in 1990, minority students earned 3,914 of the STEM bachelor's degrees awarded in the U.S. By 1998, the number of degrees awarded to minority students increased to 20,538 as a result of LSAMP programs around the country. In 2004, there were more than 30 LSAMP programs in the United States. Originally entitled the Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP), it was renamed the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program in 1999 to honor U.S. House Representative Louis Stokes, cofounder of the Congressional Black Caucus.

As of November 2007, the TAMUS LSAMP program entered its fourth phase of NSF funding. In Phase IV, the primary focus was directed on preparing students to engage in research, providing opportunities for qualified students to participate in research projects supervised by faculty members, and encouraging students to present their research results at science and engineering conferences. STEM students from underrepresented minority groups currently enrolled at Texas A&M University (TAMU), Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) or any other Texas A&M University System school are eligible to be part of TAMUS LSAMP.

Shannon D. Walton

Dr. Shannon D. Walton,
Associate Director
TAMUS LSAMP Program
shannon@tamu.edu
(979) 845-0778