The Rocky Mountain Alliance for Minority Participation (RM-AMP), formerly the Colorado-Wyoming Alliance for Minority Participation, with its thirteen institutions of higher education, is a proud member of the National Science Foundation’s framework of colleges and universities that comprise the LS-AMP network. NSF funding for the Rocky Mountain Alliance, which began in 1996, is a consortium of institutions committed to increasing the quality of education for underrepresented minorities (URM) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields and has built an infrastructure for collaborative programs and activities across partner institutions. Since its inception, RM-AMP has significantly increased the number of URM students matriculating and graduating in STEM majors. RM-AMP partners have developed programs that integrated URM students into college life, initiated early STEM advising and mentoring, enhanced state-of-the-art interventions to increase the number and graduation rate of URM STEM students, and increased communication of effective programming across institutions.

RM-AMP has associations with several American Indian tribes, including the Southern Ute, Northern Arapaho, and Eastern Shoshone. Of the thirteen partner institutions, six are Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and two are Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTI). RM-AMP also has associations with numerous corporations, national laboratories/agencies, professional membership organizations, and community groups. These collaborations continue to provide the Alliance with both insight into the ever-changing direction of technology and offer career opportunities and internships to URM students. 

Our Mission

To increase the number of students from historically underrepresented populations (URM: African American, Hispanic, Native American, Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander) in Colorado and Wyoming who persist to baccalaureate degree completion in STEM disciplines, with the goal of increasing the number and quality of URM students prepared to succeed in graduate education and contribute to a global and technologically driven workforce.

RM-AMP Objectives

  • Grow the availability and capacity of student-centered academic and social support initiatives on each campus to promote completion of B.S. degrees in STEM by URMs.
  • Facilitate pure and applied undergraduate research experiences.
  • Increase STEM transfer students from 2-year to 4-year colleges.
  • Provide opportunities for preparation and matriculation into STEM graduate programs.
  • Enhance our outreach to the Native American Community by actively engaging Native American students in summer research (First Nation Initiative).
  • Contribute to NSF’s 10 big ideas: “Navigating the New Arctic,” “Windows on the Universe,” “Understanding the Rules of Life,” “The Future of Work,” and “Mid-scale Research Infrastructure” initiatives.