Innovative Strategies for URM Pipelines to Biomedical Research Careers

描述(由申请者提供)：北卡罗来纳A&T州立大学(NCA&T)在向非洲裔美国人颁发STEM学士学位方面一直被公认为是领先的，是STEM中非洲裔美国博士学位的第四大起源机构。由于其招生总人数的85%是非裔美国人，NCA&T是一个极好的位置，可以成为追求生物医学和行为健康科学职业的非裔美国学生的顶级生产者之一。尽管非裔美国人进入STEM领域的比例与他们的白人和亚裔同行相同，但有很高比例的人在大学一年级和二年级离开STEM专业。这在一定程度上是因为缺乏关于STEM职业的信息，以及对STEM课程的速度和负担感到不知所措。另一个促成因素是对数学、化学和生物等“看门人”科学课程的先决条件准备不足和表现不佳。为了增加生物医学和行为健康科学研究职业生涯中的URM数量，需要一种综合的方法，不仅要招募和留住STEM专业的学生，而且要提供卓越的指导经验，使生物医学研究职业成为一个有吸引力的选择。这项建设规划拨款的总体目标是与NCA&T利益相关者和研究密集型合作机构的INPU一起制定蓝图，以确定和解决限制我们国家STEM人才库的不同因素。将组织一系列焦点小组会议、研讨会和务虚会，以制定实现以下具体目标的策略：1)利用联合体机构的资源，转变每个机构在生物医学研究方面招收和留住URM学生的能力；2)创建一份蓝图，以加强培训URM学生生物医学研究的教师队伍的发展；3)为发展有利于本科生研究培训和联网的基础设施制定计划；4)为过渡学生并使其融入研究密集型机构的学术环境设计方法；以及5)建立一个行政框架，以协调实施和支持Build举措。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T) has been recognized as a leader in the production of STEM baccalaureate degrees awarded to African Americans and is the number 4 institution of origin for African American PhDs in STEM. Since 85% of its total student enrollment is African American, NCA&T is an excellent position to become one of the top producers of African American students who pursue careers in biomedical and behavioral health sciences. Although African Americans enter STEM fields at the same rates as their White and Asian counterparts, a high percentage leave the STEM majors in the first and second years of college. This is in part due to lack of information about STEM careers, and feeling overwhelmed by the pace and load of STEM curricula. Another contributing factor is under-preparedness in prerequisites for and underperformance in "gatekeeper" science courses such as mathematics, chemistry, and biology. To increase the number of URMs in the biomedical and behavioral health sciences research career pipeline requires a comprehensive approach that not only recruits and retains students in STEM majors, but offers superior mentoring experiences that make biomedical research careers an attractive option. The overall objective of this BUILD planning grant is to put together a blueprint with inpu from stakeholders at NCA&T and research intensive partner institutions to identify and resolve differential factors that have been limiting our nations STEM talent pool. A series of focus group meetings, workshops, and retreats will be organized to develop strategies to achieve the following specific aims; 1) Leverage resources at consortia institutions to transform the ability o each to recruit and retain URM students in biomedical research, 2) Create a blueprint to enhance the development of faculty who train URM students in biomedical research, 3) Create a plan for developing infrastructure conducive for undergraduate research training and networking, 4) Design approaches for transitioning and integrating students into the academic environment at research intensive institutions, and 5) Establish an administrative framework to coordinate the implementation and sustain BUILD Initiatives.