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Minority Male STEM Initiative: Dialogue and Deliverables for American Public and Land-grant Universities

Participating MMSI Universities

  • Delaware State University
  • Florida A&M University
  • Florida International University
  • New Mexico State University
  • Purdue University
  • Salish Kootenai College
  • Southern University System
  • Stony Brook University
  • The University of Alabama Birmingham
  • University of Alaska Anchorage
  • University of Hawaii at Hilo
  • University of Illinois Chicago
  • University of North Carolina Pembroke
  • University of Texas at El Paso

The Minority Male STEM Initiative is funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Goals and Objectives

The overall objective of the M2 STEM Initiative is to design a means through which A۰P۰L۰U can most effectively engage A۰P۰L۰U member institutions in a comprehensive dialogue on the subject of minority males in STEM with the ultimate aim of providing leading public higher education institutions with the tools, information, and perspectives that will assist them in their practice in identifying, retaining, and graduating minority males in STEM fields.

Members of the Task Force include:

  • E. Gordon Gee, Chair, President, The Ohio State University 
  • LeManuel Bitsoi, Harvard University 
  • Nolan L. Cabrera, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for the Study of Higher Education, College of Education, The University of Arizona
  • Tshaka Cunningham, U.S. Veterans Administration (Community Representative) 
  • James Earl Davis, Professor, College of Education, Temple University 
  • Lorelle Espinosa, Institute for Higher Education Policy 
  • Michael Harris, Dean, College of Engineering, Purdue University 
  • Elliott Hirshman, President, San Diego State University
  • Harold Martin, Sr. Chancellor, North Carolina A&T State University 
  • Aileen Walter, Vice President, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering 
  • James L. Moore, III, Professor, Todd A. Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, The Ohio State University 
  • Michael Nettles, Senior Vice President and Edmund W. Gordon Chair of Policy Evaluation and Research Center Educational Testing Service 
  • Ernestine Psalmonds Easter, Program Director, Division of Graduate Educatiion, National Science Foundation
  • Mac Stewart, Columbus, OH
  • Malcolm Taylor, Ph.D student, Carnegie Mellon University (Student Representative) 
  • Robert Teranishi, Associate Professor, New York University
  • Lionel Tiger, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 
  • Ronald Williams, The College Board

Project Consultants:

  • Lamont Flowers, Distinguished Professor, Clemson University 
  • Ivory Toldson, Associate Professor, Howard University 

APLU Project Director:

  • John Michael lee, Jr. Ph.D., Vice President, Access & Success: The Advancement of Public Black Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions

The Task Force will meet over a period of 11 months, from January through November 2011.  At the conclusion of the planning process, the Task Force will have developed a comprehensive plan that will be used to shape and guide the longer-term Minority Male STEM Initiative. Specific outcomes of the Planning Task Force will include the following:

  • Identifying the questions and issues central to an extensive national dialogue among public institution leaders, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and various public constituencies. In order for the overall Minority Males in STEM Initiative to be successful, the Planning Task Force will need to identify and frame the major questions and concerns that exist in the higher education community including institutional investment and infrastructure, faculty participation/support/satisfaction; student learning; student participation/support/satisfaction; acceptance of the initiative by external constituencies; political/strategic positives/negatives of minority male programs; market supply and demand, etc.
  • Compiing the most useful and effective desired outcomes. The Task Force will identify some of the most effective means through which those tools and resources could be made available to institutions and their leaders following the completion of the national dialogue. Such effort is supported by an understanding of existing programs, other information, tools, resources that inform decision-makers about best practices in serving minority males in STEM.
    A report will be produced that summarizes what is learned in Stage 1 and will include a preliminary list of resources for university presidents and potential program implementers that identifies common attributes of leading efforts already underway and a summary of what is known about the issue of access and success of minority males in STEM disciplines and the identification of the gaps in knowledge that could subsequently be filled through research.
  • Developing the most efficient and productive process to achieve the objectives outlined above. The Planning Task Force will identify the challenges to engaging the A۰P۰L۰U leadership in addressing this issue and develop a strategy designed to maximize the potential benefits of such a dialogue. For example, the Task Force will consider and resolve infrastructure questions such as the ways in which conversations should take place (i.e. regional, teleconferencing). The Planning Task Force will also consider next steps in ensuring participation among key stakeholders at universities and in the field as well as other constituencies. In addition, the resources required will be considered.
  • Developing an action plan to recruit and work with member institutions to implement program models that have been identified in phase one as exemplary in improving the access and success of minority males in STEM disciplines. Phase two will implement this plan.
  • Framing of a policy statement raising awareness about the significance of the issue relating to minority males in STEM and frames the dialogue for Phase 2 which Presidents of A۰P۰L۰U-member institutions can endorse.

For more information on the plight of minority males in STEM please visit the following links:

:: Pre-Proposals Requested for New MMSI Grants

:: Diverse:  Proposed Federal Legislation Seeks to Boost Minority STEM Education (April 25, 2012)

:: GUIDELINES: Pre-Proposal for MMSI STEM Grants

:: Symposium on Underrepresented Minority Males in STEM

:: MMSI Receives Grant from Private Foundation

:: A۰P۰L۰U’s Minority Male STEM Initiative Receives Grant

:: NSF-Sponsored Colloquy on Minority Males in STEM

:: Quality Education for Minorities Network Regional Workshops on the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Males in STEM Disciplines at Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs)

:: Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads 

For more information regarding the initiative please email John Michael Lee, Jr.