Chicago State-Northwestern MS-PhD Bridge to the Future

描述(由申请人提供)：西北大学(NU)和芝加哥州立大学(Chicago State University)提议在芝加哥州立大学(CSU)开发一个生命科学硕士学位桥项目(BP)，该项目将识别和录取来自芝加哥地区、能力、抱负和行业能力较低的少数族裔学生，这些学生具有博士学位的能力、抱负和行业，但他们以前的学历无法使他们在高质量博士课程中具有竞争力。该项目旨在提供学术技能、实验室培训和对博士项目环境的熟悉，使学生能够出色地完成西北大学或类似机构的博士项目。拟议的计划将极大地扩展CSU现有的生物学MS课程，增加新的功能：生物化学和分子生物学方面的额外要求，由NU教员讲授的特别课程，重点是数量生物学和NU博士项目成功所需的技能和学术背景，在NU驻留一个季度期间，注册博士项目核心课程和参与实验室轮换，准备一篇研究论文并在全国会议上发表和展示，仔细指导学生并监督他们的进展，GRE准备，以及分享CSU现有少数族裔项目的几个组成部分。成功的预测被认为是极好的，因为芝加哥大都会区有大量才华横溢、代表性不足的少数族裔学生，他们的高等教育抱负因经济限制而受挫，而且拟议中的项目是两所大学教职员工多年互动的结果，在此期间，他们分析了从南加州大学继续攻读NU博士课程的当前少数族裔研究生的进展和需求。此外，该计划还将受益于外部顾问和评估人员的定期审查。

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Northwestern University (NU) and Chicago State University propose to develop a Master's degree bridge program (BP) at Chicago State University (CSU) in the life sciences that will identify and admit highly able under-represented minority students from the Chicago area who have the ability, aspiration and industry for the doctoral degree but whose prior academic qualifications would not otherwise make them competitive for quality PhD programs. The program is designed to provide the academic skills, laboratory training, and familiarity with the PhD program environment that will allow the students to complete, with distinction, doctoral programs at Northwestern University (NU) or similar institutions. The proposed program would substantially expand the existing MS program in biology at CSU with new features: additional requirements in biochemistry and molecular biology, special courses at CSU taught by NU faculty that will focus on quantitative biology and on the skills and academic background needed for success in the doctoral programs at NU, enrollment in PhD program core courses and participation in laboratory rotations during a quarter in residence at NU, preparation of a research thesis for publication and presentation at a national meeting, careful mentoring of students and monitoring of their progress, GRE preparation, and sharing of several components of existing minority programs at CSU. Prognosis for success is deemed excellent because of the large number of highly talented under-represented minority students in the Chicago metropolitan area whose aspirations for higher education are frustrated by financial constraints and because the proposed program is the culmination of several years of interactions between faculty members of the the two universities during which they have analyzed the progress and needs of current minority graduate students who have gone on to NU doctoral programs from CSU. In addition, the program will benefit from periodic scrutiny by external advisors and evaluators.