Project Title: Minority-engaged Access and Seamless Transition to STEM (MAST-STEM)
Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program
Award #: P120A230063
Project Period: 10/01/2023 to 09/30/2026
Project Team: 
      Project Director:
                     Dr. Hua Li, Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
       Co-Project Directors:
                     Dr. Maria Martinez, Associate Vice President for Student Access
                     Dr. Kai Jin, Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
                     Dr. Chongwei Xiao, Associate Professor, Chemical and Natural Gas Engineering
                     Dr. Lihua Zuo, Assistant Professor, Mathematics
       Project Coordinator:
                     Mr. Adam Lee Alvarado

Project Summary:
          Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), a public, Minority Serving Institution with more than 70% Hispanic students, proposes an institutional and transformative project focused on increasing postsecondary education access, affordability, completion, and post-enrollment success for underrepresented minority students by conducting four core activities: 1) High School Ambassador (HSA) Program to provide high school students with latest information about STEM majors and careers, inspire their interests in STEM, and help them to make informed decisions about their college studies, 2) A one-week STEM Boot Camp (SBC) Program with continuous mentoring services for first two-year undergraduate minority students at TAMUK to ensure their success and completion in the bottleneck courses within their STEM curriculum, 3) A Summer Internship Training (SIT) Program for junior and senior minority students at TAMUK to gain valuable real-world working experience to ensure their success in the STEM workforce after graduation, and 4) A Service Learning Challenge (SLC) Program to TAMUK undergraduate students in STEM to increase their awareness and skills of community engagement and ensure their success in civic life. The goals of the MAST-STEM project are to: 1) Increase engineering and science student enrollment and retention at TAMUK through high-quality and personalized interventions to high school and first two-year undergraduate students, and 2) Improve minority students’ awareness and readiness for success in STEM career workforce and civic life. This project will significantly enhance the existing relationships with local high schools and communities and improve the student services available at TAMUK. 

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