(Color online) Program demographics for academic year 2009: Pie chart of HUPAS student ethnicities and gender (top), and pie chart of the distribution of HUPAS student home institutions (bottom). C = Caucasian, AA = African American, H = Hispanic. 

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... 1, which compares HUPAS PhD degree students’ production to those obtained from the NSF indicators for the total U.S. production of African American PhDs. Over the lifetime of the program, 34 students who received either full-time or significant part-time support from the NASA and NOAA centers were awarded the PhD degree, and 37 students were awarded the MS degree in atmospheric sciences, chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering. Many of these graduates are working as full-time employees of NASA and NOAA, employees of NASA and NOAA contractors, or have positions in academics conducting research in areas of interest to both agencies. In Figure 2, the current enrollment and PhD pipeline of HUPAS over its lifetime is shown. The dividing vertical lines segment the first 15 y of the program into three phases roughly corresponding to pre-PhD production, i.e., program spin-up (left-hand panel), the current phase of initial PhD production (middle panel), and the projection for the following 5 y (right-hand panel). For example, 10 PhDs from underrepresented groups have graduated from HUPAS in the last 3 y. On the other hand, NSF indicators report only 51 PhD degrees from these same groups in the 30 y period between 1973 and 2003. More specifically, between 1973 and 2003, only five African American females earned PhDs in atmospheric sciences. In contrast, HUPAS produced four African American female PhDs in atmospheric sciences between 2006 and 2009 and has two more in the pipeline— matching the national output in our third PhD class. Similarly, NSF statistics reports only three Hispanic females earning their PhD in atmospheric sciences between 1973 and 2003. On the other hand, HUPAS has produced one Hispanic female PhD in 2006 and has three more in the pipeline—exceeding the national production over a 30 y period. These numbers do not include precandidacy students currently enrolled in HUPAS. The number of students in the current HUPAS PhD pipeline is comparable to the national output of African American and Hispanic PhDs over the last decade. The number of current African American PhD students (five) exceeds the national production over the period of 1998– 2008. This is a remarkable result and provides a strong justification for the university investment in HUPAS as a national resource for domestic talent. Since the 1998–1999 academic year, student enrollment in HUPAS has grown from five students to 19 (400% increase). HUPAS-affiliated faculty have raised over US$30 million in external grants to conduct atmospheric science research involving graduate students from a variety of departments . In fact, funding acquired by HUPAS efforts has been used to support the research and/or education of seven graduate students in chemistry, twelve graduate students in physics, and four graduate students in mechanical engineering. NCAS funds have also supported numer- ous undergraduate interns in various departments at Howard. Over the past decade, HUPAS has become one of the fastest growing and most successful graduate programs at Howard. HUPAS has reached a steady-state enrollment of near 20 students annually. It is by far one of the most diverse atmospheric sciences graduate programs in the nation, with students of African American, Hispanic American, African, Caucasian, Caribbean, and Latin American ethnicities. During the program spin-up phase (1998–2003), the enrollment and the PhD pipeline increased largely as a function of aggressive recruiting and ample support pack- ages through the early NASA funding. This is seen in Figure 2, which shows a distinctive rise in enrollment in the beginning phase and a leveling of the PhD pipeline numbers over the period 2001–2008, coinciding roughly with the start of the NOAA funding and the recruitment of selected MS graduates into the PhD program. The absence of graduates during the 2003–2005 time frame during the second phase (middle panel) is due to the fact that the initial students recruited into HUPAS obtained their MS degrees before transferring to the PhD program. Other students recruited during the 2001–2003 period entered the PhD program directly, and given a 4–6 y matriculation period for doctoral degrees, would not have been eligible for graduation during this time. In the third phase (far-right panel, 2008 and beyond), the HUPAS PhD pipeline (dark-blue line) is observed to fall off as PhD graduates exit the pipeline. This drop is not precipitous as it simply indicates a move toward a steady-state number from an initial ‘‘front-loading’’ of the PhD program. Based on current enrollment numbers and the statistics compiled over the past 7 y, the steady-state enrollment of HUPAS is projected to be between 18 and 23 students per year, with an average entering class of 3–5 students per year. The HUPAS PhD pipeline is expected to average 8–10 students annually, with an annual PhD production to reach a steady-state level of 3–5 graduates in the next 5 y. Figure 3 provides breakdowns of the demographics of the current program enrollment by gender, ethnicity, and undergraduate institution. While the program relies heavily on attracting students from MSIs (75% of enrollment), one quarter of the students come from majority institutions. This is essentially reflective of the aggregate pipeline, with a small fraction ( ~ 1%) coming from international institutions. The ethnicity and gender plot is strong evidence for our claim as one of the most diverse programs in the nation. An understated but key aspect of the growth potential is internal advocacy. We have found that it is critical for the interdisciplinary graduate program to promote its benefits to the contributing departments, schools or colleges, and to the university community on a regular basis. This includes both formal representation at faculty meetings as well as informal advocacy within the general academic community. News- letters highlighting the contributions of departments to interdisciplinary graduate program (IDP) success, the creation and research activities (especially publications and joint presentations) of novel interdisciplinary teams and projects that span academic stovepipes, and invitations to co-develop classes, co-advise students, and participate in transdisciplinary programs must be an active part of the IDP development. This encourages support through a broaden- ing of the stakeholder base and reduces tensions and misinformed perceptions associated with competing for the same or constrained budgets. The core funding from CSTEA was used to recruit junior faculty with expertise in atmospheric sciences for the purposes of organizing and aligning research projects with those of the NASA Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres and to develop the graduate program in atmospheric sciences at Howard University. The initial funding to start HUPAS included matching costs contributed from the Howard University Graduate School for graduate assistantships (stipends and tuition) to support students recruited to work on NASA-relevant research funded by CSTEA, and other resources leveraged from this center grant, including costs to support a computer laboratory, conference travel, and limited recruitment materials. The university commitment at key levels of the department, college, and provost were involved in facilitat- ing and maintaining faculty hiring commitments in support of the IDP. This involved lobbying administrators with compelling arguments for the benefits to each department and college (College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering, Architecture, Systems and Computer Sciences). HUPAS faculty hires represented 24% of the total hires made in these four parent departments during its 16 y of development, that is, two of 12 hires in chemistry, three of 10 hires in physics, and one of three hires in mechanical engineering. Table III shows the evolution of the faculty component of HUPAS from 1994 to the present time. The full-time faculty number has been steadily increasing during the recent decade, totaling seven faculty members at the present time, and on the average per academic year, the HUPAS faculty teach about five to six courses. Further, the student enrollment number has also been steadily increasing during the recent years, totaling nearly 20 students for the average academic year. In a relatively short period after implementation, Howard University sought to become elected to full membership in the University Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in October 2000. UCAR is the general academic sanctioning body and resource center for atmospheric sciences programs with respect to best practices for curriculum and research strategies. The university has maintained its membership and major participation in UCAR, and Howard faculty continue to serve on key UCAR committees. The key result of this venture has been twofold. Full membership allowed HUPAS faculty access to decision- making and visibility on a national level with peer and future peer programs and elevated the visibility of the program within the university as part of an elite group of academic programs nationally. Membership to UCAR comes at a cost (about $10,000). By making this commitment to join the group, the university tacitly agrees to support activity to maintain status, i.e. the IDP in atmospheric sciences. The successes of HUPAS are attributable to the persistence and strength of the academic structure discussed in this section, and strong faculty research programs and effective student recruitment strategies. The HUPAS faculty and graduate students have been involved in three primary areas of activity: (1) field observational programs, (2) numerical modeling for weather and climate studies, and (3) air-quality research. The field observational programs are integrated in such a way as to provide support for the weather and climate and air-quality studies. The early research efforts within the NASA center ...