The National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Centers (STC) Broadening Participation Workshop (agenda)was held in San Francisco, California March 21- 23, 2007. Attending this workshop from Elizabeth City State University was Dr. Linda Hayden, Director of The Center for Remote Sensing Education and Research (CERSER).

This workshop provided information on strategies and activities to enhance and strengthen efforts to broaden the participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in The NSF STC programs and activities that were funded by the in FY 2005 and FY 2006. The effort was to provide an environment in which representatives of The NSF STC and other NSF-sponsored program personnel could share information on this topic as it relates to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce.

An anticipated short-term outcome was the strengthening of institutional effectiveness in broadening access to The NSF STC supported activities by intergrading research, education, diversity, and knowledge transfer activities to ensure the health of the STEM workforce.

An anticipated long-term outcome of this effort was the strengthening of institutional effectiveness in broadening access to The NSF STC supported projects designed to increase the gender and ethnic/racial diversity of the STEM Workforce.

Workshop participants heard from NSF Program Officers, The NSF STC Principal Investigators, as well as other program personnel (e.g., LSAMP, AGEP, REU, T-CUP, HBCU-UP, and ADVANCE) about a diversity of topics, including:

• Practices for Broadening Participation in NSF STC;
• Forming The NSF STC Recruitment Networks for Identifying Prospective Faculty and Student Participants (e.g., women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities) for Research and Education programs,
• Forming and maintaining partnerships with NSF STC, and
• Strategic planning for preparing the next generation of NSF STC research faculty members.