Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), is pleased to announce that Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, GA has been awarded $30,590 from the National Science Foundation. The award will be used to broaden and support participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate programs for underrepresented minority undergraduate students.
 
Fort Valley State University will use the award for a project entitled “Collaborative Research: NSF INCLUDES: An Integrated Approach to Retain Underrepresented Minority Students in STEM Disciplines.” This project will be led by Dr. Sarwan Dhir from Fort Valley State University, and will be developed in coordination with the University of Georgia, Florida International University, Savannah State University, and Clark Atlanta University. Together, these universities will work to enhance recruitment, retention, productivity, and satisfaction of underrepresented minority students enrolled in STEM programs at research intensive universities.
 
“The award will enable Fort Valley State University and its partner universities in the Southeast to affect lasting change in the success of underrepresented minorities enrolled in STEM undergraduate and graduate education,” said Congressman Bishop. “I am pleased that the NSF is making efforts to support diversity in STEM education, and I applaud their continued focus on the importance of STEM jobs to the American economy.”
 
The project will leverage evidence-based approaches to examine cultural differences that may play a role in the educational outcomes of underrepresented minority STEM students. The project team will also seek to develop a number of scalable strategies and interventions to improve outcomes in STEM. This research project is set to begin October 1, 2016 and is estimated to conclude on September 30, 2018.