GP-UP: Enhancing Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Minorities in Atmospheric Sciences at NCAT

The number of scholars of color in Atmospheric Sciences is relatively low, and even worse, shows a decreasing trend, highlighting the strong need to attract, retain, and graduate larger numbers of students of color majoring in the Atmospheric Sciences. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) seeks to strengthen its undergraduate Atmospheric Science and Meteorology (ASME) program to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students from historically excluded communities, particularly African Americans, in the Atmospheric Sciences.

This effort will contribute to diversifying the STEM workforce and supporting a STEM-literate society. This project seeks to address this workforce shortfall by infusing innovative practices into N.C. A&T’s ASME program, thus building a solid foundation for the pathway that will diversify and further strengthen the future atmospheric scientist and meteorologist workforce.

The proposed activities will not only ensure the project’s successful accomplishment but also have the following intellectual merits: 1) enhanced general education in the Geosciences, which will help students gain an increasing awareness of environmental sustainability challenges within the context of the Geosciences’ interdisciplinary nature; 2) exposure to research faculty expertise over a wide range of topics—atmosphere chemistry, mountain meteorology, tropical meteorology, and polar meteorology; 3) enhanced student awareness of academic and career opportunities through professional development activities.

To achieve this project’s overarching goal of Enhancing Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Minorities in Atmospheric Sciences at N.C. A&T, the PI team will adopt the following practices: 1) Attracting – enhancing undergraduate students’ general education in geosciences and conducting a K12 outreach activity to attract students to the ASME program; 2) Bridging – establishing a summer bridge program for students admitted to the ASME program to bridge any knowledge or skills gaps, particularly in math, thereby preparing students for the ASME curriculum; 3) CB learning – adopting Cohort-Based (CB) educational practices as appropriate to enhance student learning and maximize student retention; 4) RB training – utilizing Research-Based (RB) educational practices to actively involve students in various research projects and enhance students’ skills in oral communication, technical writing, and research; and 5) Service learning – engaging students in service learning through the Volunteer Weather Observer Program to combine learning goals with community engagement.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.