The Colorado Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CO-AMP) is an innovative consortium of fourteen community colleges and four-year institutions, and four Native American tribes in Colorado and the Four Corners region. The Alliance's mission is to double the number of historically and currently under-represented American Indian, African American, Hispanic and Pacific Islander students earning bachelor's degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
CO-AMP's educational excellence and diversity enhancement programs are strongly supported by the Presidents of the participating institutions and the Chairpersons of the four participating American Indian tribes. The Presidents are highly committed to institutionalizing CO-AMP activities to assure continuation of the programs developed after the NSF funding ends.
Mission
To substantially increase the quantity (the number of students graduating) and the quality of education for underrepresented students receiving baccalaureate degrees in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Technology.
To increase the number of underrepresented students entering graduate schools to attain a doctorate.
Objectives
Improve undergraduate STEM education to achieve a demonstrated increase in the number of underrepresented students receiving undergraduate STEM degrees.
Establish partnerships among community colleges, colleges and universities, school systems, government agencies, national STEM laboratories, industry, private foundations, and STEM professional organizations, to achieve the AMP objectives.
Develop an infrastructure and management plan among participating institutions to ensure long-term continuation of AMP activities.
Develop specific evaluation plans and procedures for assessing both qualitative and quantitative changes.
Philosophy
To collaborate among colleges, universities, industry, professional organizations, government laboratories, and tribal councils for the benefit of underrepresented students.
To build and to institutionalize programs that will dramatically increase underrepresented enrollment
and graduation rates, allowing the achievement of unity through diversity, and benefit all underrepresented students.
To foster partnerships and strong interactions that facilitates the transition bridge from community colleges to four-year colleges and universities, thereby increasing the number of underrepresented student graduates.
To provide the opportunity and the support structure needed for underrepresented students to succeed in higher education. To ensure a commitment that the momentum gained through the CO-AMP activities will continue beyond the NSF cooperative agreement.