  If the ethnic makeup of the astronomy profession is to achieve parity with
the general population within one generation (~30 years), the number of
underrepresented minorities earning graduate degrees in astronomy and
astrophysics must increase in the coming decade by a factor of 5 to 10. To
accomplish this, the profession must develop and invest in mechanisms to more
effectively move individuals across critical educational junctures to the PhD
and beyond. Early and continuous research engagement starting in the
undergraduate years is critical to this vision, in which the federally funded
research internship programs (e.g. NSF REU, NASA GSRP) and national
centers/observatories play a vital role. Regionally based partnerships with
minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are crucial for tapping extant pools of
minority talent, as are post-baccalaurate and/or masters degree "bridging"
programs that provide critical stepping stones to the PhD. Because of the
strong undergraduate physics, engineering, and computer science backgrounds of
many students from MSIs, we suggest that instrument development and large scale
computing/data-mining are particularly promising avenues for engagement in the
coming decade.
