Interdisciplinary Team Earns $695,000 NSF Grant to Support Early Career Researchers at HBCUs

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (November 30, 2023) — Nathan Mitchell, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Broadening Global Learning Opportunities Building Academic Leaders (B-GLOBAL QEP) at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), has secured a $695,742 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to for his project supporting early career researchers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Mitchell joined forces with co-principal investigators Dr. Sesha Kethineni, retired professor in PVAMU’s Department of Justice Studies, Dr. Tabitha S. Morton, assistant professor of political science at PVAMU, and co-investigators Drs. Susan Frazier-Kouassi and Sally-Ann Ashton from the Texas Juvenile Crime Prevention Center to win the grant.

The collaborative project between the Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Juvenile Justice centers around a week-long summer institute designed to empower early-career researchers with the skills to analyze and integrate secondary data into their research agendas. Prairie View A&M University will host the institute, extending invitations to researchers from regional HBCUs, fostering collaboration, and encouraging knowledge exchange.

“This grant and the forthcoming institute are a triumph for PVAMU and a significant step toward fostering diversity and excellence in STEM education,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA. “The impact of this transformative initiative, driven by a shared vision, will undoubtedly be felt far beyond the confines of the university, creating a ripple effect that elevates STEM education across HBCUs and beyond.”

Teaming up with the University of Michigan’s Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the project provides access to extensive data resources, statistical training, and guidance on utilizing specific datasets. The mentorship component is a vital feature of the program, which ensures ongoing support for participants in developing intellectual products and integrating secondary data analysis into their teaching throughout the year.

The three-year initiative aims to achieve several outcomes, including enhancing research design and data analysis skills, fostering competence in working with ICPSR datasets, facilitating knowledge transfer, and guiding participants in incorporating secondary data analysis into their teaching methodologies. The project fills a crucial gap in research, aligning with the broader goal of fostering mentorship for underserved populations in the social sciences.

“I am most excited about our partnership with the ICPSR,” Mitchell shared. “When I was a younger graduate student, I participated in some of their summer workshops, and they were transformative. I still use the network of peers and support I developed there, so I hope our participants will have a similar experience.”

Participants are expected to produce intellectual products with the potential for publication, conference presentations, or further grant submissions, broadening the impact of their collaborative work.

The project addresses institutional challenges faced by HBCU faculty, such as limited access to resources like the ICPSR data warehouse. This summer institute will bridge the gap by providing access to data resources, training, professional development, and dedicated time for HBCU faculty to develop projects related to thematic topics in criminal justice, cyber security, public health, and the allied social sciences. Beyond benefiting individual participants, the program seeks to enhance their students’ educational opportunities, nurturing a diverse set of researchers.

“Because of increased teaching, advising, and service loads, implementing a successful research agenda at HBCUs is often more challenging. This grant will help faculty develop needed skills and some time to work on their project,” said Mitchell. “This grant also helps to highlight the talented scholars at our institution because researchers from our peer institutions will be coming to PV’s campus for the summer institute sponsored by the grant.”

In addition to aligning with the NSF’s goals of promoting STEM education, the collaborative program focuses on “teaching with data” to instill critical skills in HBCU students. This collective effort responds to the identified need for marketable skills, ensuring that these students are equipped to become the diverse researchers of tomorrow.

“Employers and graduate programs are increasingly expecting students to be familiar with coding, using statistical software, and being able to produce compelling visualizations and we want our students to be ready to meet this demand,” said Mitchell.

 

By Jenna Craig