'Bridge to the Doctorate' enables minorities to pursue graduate degrees, conduct research

Thursday, July 10, 2008

(July 10, 2008   Stillwater, Okla.) —Thanks to a two-year, $987,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, OSU will be able to sponsor 12 new minority students this fall who plan to pursue graduate degrees in the science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) disciplines.  The funding comes from NSF’s Bridge to the Doctorate program, which is designed to enhance the number of underrepresented groups earning advanced degrees.  The program provides each student with a $30,000 annual stipend, tuition waivers and health insurance.  OSU is one of only 19 other institutions in the U.S. to receive this funding.

“We are so pleased about the opportunity to provide the Bridge to the Doctorate program to OSU students,” said Gordon Emslie, dean of the Graduate College and co-principal investigator on the NSF award.  “With these resources, students will not only be able to earn a graduate degree that leads to a professional career in a STEM field, but also do so without incurring further debt.”

This year’s group of Bridge to the Doctorate fellows will be OSU’s second funded through NSF.  OSU also received funding for the program in 2004.  Of the 12 members in the first group, six have earned graduate degrees and five are scheduled to receive degrees by December 2009.  One student withdrew from the program.

Cara Cowan Watts is a current Bridge fellow pursuing a doctorate in biosystems engineering.  “Without the Bridge to the Doctorate program, I would not have been able to pursue my lifelong dream of obtaining my doctorate in engineering,” Watts said.  “The program made it financially possible for me to go back to school after being in industry for about eight years.”  Watts will receive her degree in December 2008.

Brett Cowan, Cara’s brother and a graduate of the Bridge program, received his doctorate in civil engineering in May 2007.  Cara and Brett are leaders in OSU’s Native American Alumni Association.

Bridge to the Doctorate is an initiative of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), a national program created to encourage undergraduates to pursue degrees in the STEM disciplines.  All Bridge to the Doctorate fellows must be graduates of a LSAMP program.  

OSU is the lead institution for the Oklahoma LSAMP.  Ten other universities in the state, including OU and TU, make up the Oklahoma alliance.  OSU will take applications for this year’s Bridge to the Doctorate program until July 11.   

For more information, visit www.ok-lsamp.okstate.edu.