Target Infusion Project: Geospatial Data Systems-Policy Analysis Curriculum Enhancement Project (GDS-PACE)

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based, innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) graduate programs and/or careers. This project seeks to infuse geospatial systems and data analytics into political science undergraduate education and research at Clark Atlanta University. The goal of this project is to develop and implement new undergraduate geospatial research courses in the political science curriculum, incorporate geospatial data systems and/or data analytics modules in currently existing political science courses, and increase geospatial research and data analytics through faculty-mentored undergraduate research projects. The project will lead to a mutual relationship between policy analyses in an intellectual sense and policy implementation in practical terms. The outcome of this project will be graduates that can solve real-world problems utilizing their understanding of political science theory and practice coupled with geospatial data and data analytics. This project will also better prepare our graduates for graduate study and the workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.