Mentored Experience in Research, Instruction, and Teaching (MERIT) Program

描述（由申请人提供）：研究，教学和教学指导经验（MERIT）计划的使命是提供教学和研究方面的经验，这将使博士后学者的多元化社区成为明天的领先院士。MERIT计划的直接目标是增强发展中科学家的研究背景和教学经验，以便在学术环境中进行高质量的研究。该项目的长期目标有三个方面：1)加强少数民族服务机构的研究型教学；Ii)进一步促进研究型大学与少数民族服务机构之间的互动，从而促进研究和教学方面的合作；iii)增加合格的少数族裔学生进入竞争激烈的生物医学研究领域的人数。MERIT项目将由阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校（UAB）与迈尔斯学院和斯蒂尔曼学院合作推动；所有学校都位于50英里半径内。拟议的MERIT计划将包括3年的并行研究培训和教学指导。研究部分将包括以实验室为基础的教学，以及道德培训和专业技能发展。教学部分将包括四个关键要素：i)与教学相关的课程；Ii)对一名本科生进行一对一辅导；Iii)课程开发；四是课堂教学经验。在研究和教学部分开始时，每个MERIT学者将制定个人发展计划，以确定他/她的研究和教学相关目标；这些计划将被用来记录每位优异奖学金获得者实现这些目标的进展情况。MERIT项目的评估将基于传统的环境、输入、过程、产品模型，这对项目的成功至关重要。通过调查、一对一访谈和校友监测，将评估MERIT奖学金获得者和参与机构的可衡量价值。所有评估和评估的结果将提供给MERIT项目领导进行审查和采取行动。由于其在生物医学领域的成功，UAB有独特的机会和责任提供这些经验，以加强阿拉巴马州少数民族服务机构的研究型教学。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mission of the Mentored Experiences in Research, Instruction, and Teaching (MERIT) Program is to provide experiences in both teaching and research that will permit a diverse community of postdoctoral scholars to become tomorrow's leading academicians. The immediate objective of the MERIT Program is to enhance the research backgrounds and teaching experiences of developing scientists to conduct high quality research in an academic environment. Long-term objectives for this program are three-fold: i) to enhance research oriented teaching at minority serving institutions; ii) to further promote interactions between research-intensive universities and minority serving institutions that will lead to collaborations in research and teaching; and iii) to increase the number of well qualified underrepresented minority students entering competitive careers in biomedical research. The MERIT Program will be facilitated by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in partnership with Miles College and Stillman College; all schools are located within a 50 mile radius. The proposed MERIT Program will include 3 years of concurrent research training and teaching instruction. The research component will incorporate laboratory-based instruction together with ethics training and professional skills development. The teaching component will include four key elements: i) teaching-related coursework; ii) one-on-one mentoring of an undergraduate student; iii) course development; and iv) classroom teaching experience. At the start of both the research and teaching components, each MERIT Scholar will devise personal development plans in order to determine his/her research- and teaching-related goals; these plans will be utilized to chart the progress of each MERIT Scholar toward these goals. Evaluation of the MERIT Program, which will be based upon a traditional Context, Input, Process, Product Model, will be critical to the Program's success. Through surveys, one-on-one interviews, and alumni monitoring, measurable values for MERIT Scholars as well as the participating institutions will be assessed. Results of all evaluations and assessments will be provided to the MERIT Program leadership for review and action. Because of its successes in the biomedical arena, UAB has a unique opportunity and responsibility to provide these experiences in a manner that will enhance research oriented teaching at minority serving institutions within Alabama.