Summary Statement by Presidential Panel:
Freeman Hrabowski (chair), University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Norman Francis, Xavier University of Louisiana
Christoph Kimmich, Brooklyn College
Richard Levin, Yale University
Antonio Padilla, University of Puerto Rico
Allen Sessoms, Delaware State University
Beverly Tatum, Spelman College

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The forum panel has identified several trends and a combination of both positive developments and serious challenges regarding the preparation of underrepresented minority undergraduate scholars for doctoral training in STEM fields.

Some of the positive developments include the following:

• The increasing number of minority students attending college, including those with an interest in science and engineering, which will lead to a growing pool of potential scientists and engineers.
• The increasing grant support from both public and private sources for STEM education, broadly, as the result of renewed attention being focused on science and mathematics education.
• .The heightened attention being focused on diversity in science, broadly, as one of the unintended consequences of the recent Harvard controversy involving the role of women in science.
• The growing understanding that there is an increased need to focus on increasing the number of domestic students, undergraduate and graduate, in STEM fields as the result of the post-9-11 decline in the number of foreign students entering doctoral programs in these fields.
• The increasing attention being given to best practices involving minority students in science and engineering developed over the years at selected institutions, and the growing body of research that documents both the successes and challenges in this area.
• The opportunity to learn from those minority students who have been successful at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and who are either now enrolled in doctoral programs or have completed those programs.
• The growing number of faculty at different types of institutions who have had some success in producing minority students in STEM fields.
• The increasing number of research opportunities, both on-campus and off-campus, for minority students in STEM fields.

Some of the continuing challenges include the following:

• The lack of rigorous science and mathematics education in many K-12 school systems, including especially those where we find the largest numbers of minority students.
• The persistence of gateway courses designed to discourage and “weed out” first-year science and engineering students.
• The need for stronger college-level advising and support systems for underrepresented minority STEM majors.
• The need to encourage faculty innovation in teaching science, mathematics, and engineering courses.
• The need to increase the number of faculty of color who can serve as role models.
• The need to ensure that initiatives focused on minorities in science are a priority of the campus – and the need for leadership training in this area for administrators and faculty.
• The need to address personal challenges that minority students face:
  * Providing financial support for minority students to preclude the necessity for them to
  work, which conflicts with study time.
  *Addressing issues involving students’ self-concept, motivation, study habits, and family-related challenges.
• The lack of exposure students receive at some smaller campuses or teaching institutions to  cutting-edge research and related facilities – and the need for more substantive links between research and teaching institutions.
• The need for faculty and students to be exposed to the expectations of graduate programs in relationship to the level of rigor of undergraduate students’ preparation.
• Insufficient research and training grants from national agencies for preparing minority students in science and engineering.