Outreach Activities for NSF's I³ Program

PROJECT OVERVIEW:

With National Science Foundation support, the Quality Education for Minorities Network (QEM) will provide outreach and technical assistance to minority-serving institutions to increase their knowledge and understanding of the National Science Foundation’s Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³) initiative. The Innovation through Institutional Integration initiative challenges institutions to think strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards and is itself an integrative, cross-cutting effort within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

QEM will conduct six two-day information and technical assistance workshops for two-person teams form minority-serving institutions. The workshops will be held in geographically dispersed areas of the country and are designed to accommodate 144 participants during Fall 2008 and Spring 2009.

Intellectual Merit: The technical assistance offered will enable minority-serving institutions to develop an inventory of current NSF - and other Federal entity funded STEM projects on their campuses and learn about the mission and key concepts of the I-cubed program. The technical assistance will enable participants to critically examine intra- and inter-institutional opportunities for partnerships, international initiatives, and efforts at critical junctures that have synergistic and integrative potential for advancing STEM research and education.

Broader Impacts: Outcomes of the proposed project include increased participation of the minority-serving institution community in the Innovation through Institutional Integration initiative, as well as enhanced minority-serving institution infrastructure for STEM research and education through innovative and institutional integration. As opportunities provided by the I-cubed program are better understood and minority-serving institutions develop competitive I-cubed proposals, the pool of principal investigators engaged in integrative STEM education and research programs will represent a more diverse source for ideas and talent to improve STEM initiatives.