The PR-LSAMP is managed by the UPR Resource Center for Science and Engineering (RCSE), a consortium of main higher education institutions in Puerto Rico and manager of the large-scale systemic initiatives on the Island.  Since its inception in 1980, the RCSE has pioneered systemic reform in the STEM K-16+ continuum following a pipeline model.  This model interprets the loss of students from the educational continuum as leaks in the pipeline due to inefficiencies in the educational process or to accumulated content and cognitive deficiencies in the students’ education.  Following this model, the RCSE identifies major bottlenecks or stumbling blocks to students’ progress throughout the educational pipeline and develops a systemic approach to ensure that a larger number of STEM students complete their college education.  The PR-LSAMP is part of the Island’s long-range plan to reform the educational continuum, improve STEM education, and increase its capacity to move students effectively through the educational pipeline into a successful graduate school experience.  Specifically, with its predominant focus on undergraduate STEM reform, PR-LSAMP has worked to transform the teaching and learning culture within the Alliance partners.  Institutional transformation has been achieved through a two-pronged strategy:

• a bottom-up approach, where a cadre of professors, willing to experiment with change, is identified and nurtured to pioneer reformed courses and teaching methodologies; and

• a top-down approach where Chancellors/Presidents support –financially and philosophically- the institutional culture transformation needed to make the undergraduate STEM sector of the educational pipeline more effective and efficient. 

To measure the systemic transformation of STEM education and assess the progress achieved by each institution, a set of metrics was developed and implemented to indicate the effectiveness and efficiency in STEM programs in PR-LSAMP institutions.  These metrics include: retention and graduation rates and GPA, average number of years to complete a baccalaureate degree, entry into graduate STEM programs, and the index of course efficiency (ICE), which is defined as the average number of times students must take a course to satisfactorily pass it with a grade of  “C” or above.  Use of these metrics promote accountability among the PR-LSAMP institutions, and facilitates incorporation of quantitative performance metrics into their institutional research process to drive resource planning and allocation of funds.

The primary objectives of Phase IV are:

1.      Increase the number of students who enter a graduate degree program in a STEM field

2.      Increase the number of students who complete a PhD program in a STEM field, either in Puerto Rico or in the US mainland

3.      Sustain the annual number of BS STEM graduates from PR-LSAMP institutions to provide for a significant source (pool) for STEM graduate degrees  

4.      Sustain and enhance the direct student support strategies that have proven successful to retain and motivate undergraduate STEM students to pursue graduate studies, such as undergraduate research experiences and mentoring

5.  Sustain the collaborative network between STEM faculty from the different PR-LSAMP institutions for exchange of and mentoring in the implementation of successful strategies to enhance the teaching and learning process