I am pleased that Morgan State University is a partner in the STEM Initiative. This program has the potential to provide significant benefits to the participating institutions, their faculty, and their students. It also has the potential to begin to address in a meaningful way the critical national need to increase the representation of minorities in science-related fields as demographic changes threaten our nation's ability to educate enough of its citizens for an information-based economy.
Morgan is in a good position to contribute to this partnership in a significant way. It is a magnet for African-American students nationally, but particularly for African Americans living in the northeast urban corridor. Historically, about 35% of our student body has come from outside of the state of Maryland. We also offer a comprehensive range of academic programs, and historically have been strong in the sciences. Traditionally, one-third or more of our graduates enter graduate or professional school following graduation. At the undergraduate level, we rank 12th among all campuses nationally in the number of baccalaureates awarded to African Americans. Morgan ranks 5th in the biological sciences, 7th in engineering, and 9th in computer and information sciences.
More recently the University has begun to have a national impact on the pool of African-American doctoral degree recipients as well. Despite the fact that our programs are of recent origin and our culture is largely one of a teaching institution, we already rank 14th nationally among traditional campuses in awarding doctorates to African Americans. We rank 7th nationally in engineering doctorates.
While we have been a major contributor to the pool of black graduates in science and engineering, we could be making a much larger contribution. This is where the STEM Initiative has the potential to make us even more productive.
The overall goal of the Initiative is to significantly increase the numbers of minorities graduating with baccalaureates and doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines. In order for historically black universities to accomplish this and to succeed in building the research capabilities in the STEM disciplines, the following are required: the campus environment must be supportive of research; the institutional culture must incorporate and develop research and educational programs that help to identify the strengths of individual students; faculty must be given the time to foster and develop opportunities for scientific collaborations and partnerships; and infrastructure at campuses need to be strengthened. Enhancements if all of these areas, which is a goal of the Initiative, would significantly improve our capabilities.
At Morgan, several undergraduate research programs for upper-class STEM students already exist. These include the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program, the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program, and the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program. These programs all have as their goal increasing the number of minorities completing undergraduate degrees in STEM disciplines and completing the doctorate. These programs focus on the retention and research activities of STEM students as well as the recruitment and retention of STEM faculty.
The University has strengthened its STEM education and enhanced its research infrastructure through revisions in the content and pedagogy of its STEM courses and through development of doctoral programs in STEM disciplines. Among the doctoral programs developed over the past decade are engineering, mathematics education, science education, public health, bio-environment sciences, and psychometrics. The University has further strengthened its teaching and research capabilities in the biological sciences at all levels of study through the recent acquisition of the Environmental Research Center in southern Maryland.
The recruitment and retention of students and faculty, however, is of growing concern. Much of Morgan's ability to develop students who are prepared for successful post-graduate science careers depends on our ability to expand on-campus research capabilities. This can be accomplished by increasing the productivity of our current research faculty and attracting promising STEM faculty members to join and remain in the University's STEM departments. The partnership developed between Indiana University and the participating historically black campuses promises to help to accomplish these goals.
