This strategic area of focus will highlight the on-going empirical scholarship that addresses the needs of academically gifted and high-achieving underserved populations in P-12 as well as higher education contexts.  The research of several contemporary scholars (Bonner, Chadwell, Flowers, Ford, Granthamds, Harper, and Strayhorn) will be used to frame Center initiatives.

This strategic area of focus will engage the current fervor surrounding the national discourse on the status of Black males in the United States.  While the primary goal of this area is to underscore the engagements that Black males have with both P-12 and postsecondary education contexts, an even broader focus will include the experiences of Black males in society writ large.  Recognizing that Black males’ experiences in school settings represent but a microcosm of the larger macrocosm issues that are experienced by these cohorts external to education settings.  Thus, engagement with entities such as corporate America as well as the juvenile justice system will be investigated.

This strategic area of focus will add to the extant research that underscores experiences as well as the status of minorities in STEM-related disciplines and fields.  Given the outcry about the national crisis the country is facing regarding the number of individuals who are pursing STEM majors and who are subsequently prepared to enter the STEM workforce, the aim of this area is to highlight the experiences and participation of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women–particularly women of color that contribute to their retention and success.

This strategic area of focus will center on the contemporary national dialogue that speaks to the development and retention of higher education faculty in college and university settings. Many of the past and contemporary conversations and much of the research about postsecondary faculty members have considered the experiences of faculty in Predominantly White Institutions (Boyer, 1990).  Thus, framing faculty development in terms of the MSI context is critically important in that it provides a nuanced perspective on faculty life within these minority-serving enclaves.

This strategic area of focus will center on the exigent issues impacting both higher education and student affairs.  To enhance the conditions of agents both internal and external to academe it is critically important to understand how colleges work (Birnbaum, 1988).  Hence academic and student affairs functioning will be investigated through formal and informal modalities.

This strategic area of focus will provide the Center with opportunities to make key connections with business and corporate partners.  These relationships will provide needed support not only by way of fiscal resources, but also through externships and internships for individuals who use the Center as a conduit to the workforce