The Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP) Program

The Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP) Program is a multi-disciplinary comprehensive undergraduate program designed to increase substantially the quantity and quality of minority students receiving baccalaureate degrees in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology (SEMT) and, subsequently, to increase the number of minority students entering graduate schools to attain the doctorate in SEMT fields supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). To utilize the knowledge, resources, and capabilities of a broad range of organizations within the SEM community, AMP encouragesthe formation of coalitions among leaders throughout academia, government, industry, and other organizations. The program will maximize the potential for making a significant positive impact on minority participation over the next decade. Success of the AMP Program will be measured by the program's ability to bring about a significant increase in the number of underrepresented minorities graduating with a baccalaureate degree in SEM fields supported by NSF.
AMP facilitates achievement of the long-term goal of increasing the production of minority doctorates in SEM fields, especially those who choose to take faculty positions on college and university campuses. The required sustained and comprehensive action will be accomplished through the formation of alliances in partnership with the Foundation. Full participation by the SEM community is essential to the achievement of program goals.
The substantial majority of activities intended for NSF support under the AMP Program must focus specifically on undergraduate SEM education. In addition to this principal focus, projects must also give consideration to the critical transition points along the SEM education pipeline i.e., highschool-to-college; two-year to four-year college; undergraduate-to-graduate study; and graduate study-to-faculty career. The scope and scale of an AMP project i.e., the number of transition points addressed may vary among proposals, depending on project focus, needs, and goals.

The alliances to be developed under this program must be structured to address two interrelated requirements:

First, the design of the alliance must be based on sound understanding of programmatic approaches known to be successful in meeting well-defined needs, must be cost effective, and must involve students in faculty research.
Second, the proposed plan must be comprehensive and longitudinal, since fragmentary and isolated efforts are inevitably inadequate responses to the acknowledged scope and scale of the problem being addressed by the AMP Program.

The Foundation wishes to stimulate greater involvement of scientists and engineers in designing, developing, implementing, and directing AMP proposals. Research scientists and engineers, as well as SEM educators are expected to develop and submit AMP proposals through their employing organizations.
Organizations eligible to submit include academic institutions that award SEM B.S. degrees. This includes major research universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other institutions with significant minority enrollments, other doctoral-granting institutions, and comprehensive universities.

The National Science Foundation

Dr. Neal Lane, Director

Dr. Luther Williams, Assistant Director,
Directorate for Education and Human Resources

Dr. Roosevelt Calbert, Director
Division of Human Resource Development

Dr. William E. McHenry, Director
Alliance for Minority Participation Program

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