Initiative for Maximizing Student Development

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Since 1993, the University of Miami (UM) and Miami Dade College (MDC) have had a Bridges to the Baccalaureate program. We have stimulated student interest in biomedical research and have helped students transition into the biomedical sciences at UM. We have provided undergraduate research experiences, special courses to improve academic competitiveness, and professional development for community college faculty. But reliable financial support for the students once they come to UM has been wanting. The IMSD program will remedy this. It will help transitioned students to continue research. Special courses will make them more academically competitive. We also will support graduate students in biomedical research programs with special courses and mentoring. Faculty who mentor these students will improve their skills with IMSD-supported programs. An unbroken skein of intergenerational mentoring is our goal--with undergraduate IMSD Scholars guiding MDC bridge students, predoctoral IMSD Fellows guiding IMSD Scholars, faculty guiding undergraduates and predoctoral fellows, and expert mentors and teachers helping both faculty and fellows. Our application has six goals and 18 measurable objectives. The overall aim is to increase the number of Bridges students seeking the Ph.D. and to help IMSD fellows become more competitive for postdoctoral and faculty positions. Each year, nine Bridges students who come to UM will be IMSD Scholars for a steady-state of 18. As well, two predoctoral IMSD fellows will be supported for the first two years of graduate work; there will be a steady-state of four fellows. Their dissertation advisers' grants will provide support for them to finish. We will recruit IMSD fellows from among IMSD Scholars and from historically minority serving institutions. IMSD Fellows will be dually mentored by a research adviser and an award-winning educator. Formative and summative evaluation will measure program success.