SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE $2.5 MILLION IN NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION FUNDING FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY TO LEAD RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS FROM ACROSS UPSTATE NY IN CONNECTING UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS TO GOOD PAYING JOBS AND STRENGTHENING AMERICA’S STEM WORKFORCE

With Upstate NY Seeing Historic New Investment And A Manufacturing Boom From Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Act – Like Micron’s Landmark $100 Billion Investment In CNY Memory Chip Fab – Senators Say Now Is Perfect Time To Invest In Upstate NY’s Universities That Are Molding Next Generation Of Tech Workforce

Senators Say Major Investment Into Syracuse University, With Partnerships At Clarkson University, Cornell, Monroe Community College, Onondaga Community College, RPI, and RIT, Will Increase Support And Research Opportunities For Underrepresented Students To Give Them The Skills They Need To Get Connected To Good Paying Jobs

Schumer, Gillibrand: Syracuse University And Schools Across Upstate NY Can Lead The Charge To Give Tools To Next Generation Of America’s STEM Workforce

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $2.5 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for the Upstate Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (“USLAMP”), led by Syracuse University, to help increase access for underserved populations and diversify the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce in New York and across America. This program will help institutionalize practices to attract and retain underrepresented populations of students with STEM majors, refine practices to increase the number of students pursuing STEM careers or graduate-level STEM degrees, and measure the impact of research experience for undergraduates. Schumer and Gillibrand said this investment will be integral to providing increased support and research opportunities to underrepresented students entering STEM careers or graduate-level programs and leading schools across Upstate New York to help underserved populations get connected to good paying jobs, spurred by the federal legislation like the CHIPS & Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law.

“Syracuse is already leading our nation in bringing high-tech and semiconductor manufacturing back to our shores, and now thanks to this $2.5 million federal boost, SU will continue to lead Upstate NY community colleges and universities in connecting underrepresented students to good paying STEM careers. I am proud to deliver this nearly $2.5 million federal investment to help Syracuse University and its six partner institutions from Rochester to the North Country increase the nation's STEM workforce, and further boost Central New York’s research leadership,” said Senator Schumer. “This critical NSF investment will spur collaboration between several blossoming Upstate industries and multiple world class research institutions over the next five years, helping give the next generation the skills they need to build America’s future here in Upstate NY.”

“Syracuse University is a national leader in training the nation’s STEM workforce, and with this funding, it will be able to continue providing underrepresented students with the training needed to get good-paying STEM jobs,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This funding will help the university keep up its work with other New York research institutions to bring good-paying jobs to Upstate New York. I’m proud to have worked to pass the CHIPS and Science Act to help boost STEM manufacturing and I will continue to fight to increase the nation’s STEM workforce.”

Gretchen Ritter, Syracuse University Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, says: “Syracuse University is proud to have this important grant renewed for a fourth time. Its objectives mirror the University’s crucial missions to expand education in the STEM fields, broaden educational opportunities for underrepresented communities, boost levels of research and creative activity and continue productive alliances with the wider community. We are proud to have led this initiative for 16 years now and to work with alliance partners Clarkson University, Cornell University, Monroe Community College, Onondaga Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rochester Institute of Technology on these important goals.”

Schumer and Gillibrand explained that the USLAMP project, officially named “Louis Stokes Renewal STEM Pathways and Research Alliance: New York State's Upstate LSAMP," is led by Syracuse University and includes six other partner institutions in New York: Clarkson University, Cornell University, Monroe Community College (MCC), Onondaga Community College (OCC), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The project will generate new knowledge related to the recruitment, academic success, and retention of underrepresented populations and investigate the aspirations, pathways and outcomes of alliance students preparing for entry into STEM graduate programs. Several industries will collaborate with the alliance over the next five years to provide research opportunities to students, including Micron Technology, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and National GRID, among others.

This is the fourth time that Syracuse University and its partners have received an LSAMP award. The program has been highly successful in increasing the enrollment, retention, graduation, and graduate school enrollment of underrepresented STEM students, having awarded 6,853 STEM degrees to underrepresented STEM students over its sixteen year history. In 2007, USLAMP institutions enrolled 1,943 underrepresented STEM students in undergraduate programs and awarded 249 bachelor’s degrees to underrepresented students. By 2020, those numbers more than doubled to 3,891 students enrolled and 700 degrees awarded.

“A critical element of Cornell Engineering’s success is our deeply rooted recognition that the innovations and workforce required to solve humanity’s grandest challenges require a range of perspectives and a collective effort that achieves results greater than the sum of our parts,” said Lynden Archer, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell University. “Collaborative alliances like USLAMP are essential for making meaningful progress towards these goals, and we appreciate the work of Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand to create and maintain conditions that bring all innovative minds to the table as we work together to forge a better future.”

“Bringing high-tech jobs back to America and to upstate New York depends upon all of us working together to prepare STEM talent who can pursue innovation and solutions that matter. Senator Schumer and his colleagues in Washington are making that happen right now with game-changing investments in research and higher education,” said Marc P. Christensen, Ph.D., P.E., President of Clarkson University. “Programs like the Louis Stokes Alliances empower people with different perspectives and experiences to join our STEM workforce.”  

 “Onondaga Community College is a proud partner in STEM education with Syracuse University and the other collaborating institutions. Thanks to Senator Chuck Schumer and his support, this award ensures the continued growth of experiential learning opportunities and enrichment for our diverse student population as we build the community college-to-university pipeline in disciplines that offer exceptional careers in the CNY region,” said Dr. Warren Hilton, OCC President.

“Monroe Community College is proud of our 15 year partnership with other New York higher educational institutions to help develop and promote ways to increase the number of underrepresented students entering STEM careers, said MCC President DeAnna R. Burt-Nanna, Ph.D. “Today’s National Science Foundation Award is a recognition of our collective efforts and its continued value in the years ahead”

“We are grateful to Leader Schumer for continuing to champion the need to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow,” said Keith Jenkins, RIT Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion. "This funding will allow RIT to provide meaningful support to students from under-represented groups as they prepare for in-demand STEM careers and graduate degrees in cutting-edge fields.”

A full project description can be found here.

This past April, Schumer personally brought Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation, to Central New York to meet with local stakeholders and see firsthand the excitement and vast coalition coming together to build the region’s incredible workforce. Schumer explained that his CHIPS and Science Act authorizes billions in new investment for the NSF’s STEM workforce training and education programs, and that he wants those federal dollars to be used to prepare the next generation of workers for the thousands of good-paying construction, manufacturing, and innovation jobs on the horizon. Last year, Schumer secured $9.87 billion for the National Science Foundation through an end-of-the-year spending package. The omnibus included an increase of over $1 billion for the NSF, the largest dollar increase for NSF in history, providing funds to begin implementation of the NSF STEM training and education programs to fill good-paying jobs at Micron and beyond.

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