Bridges to the Baccalaureate

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ABSTRACT The mission of our collaborative Bridges to the Baccalaureate (B2B) program is to develop a diverse pool of biomedical scientists by supporting research-oriented community college students to successfully bridge to UC Davis (UCD) and complete a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences in normative time. Our program entails a collaboration between UCD and a nearby community college American River College (ARC). The proposed training plan includes five key elements: (1) Active outreach to STEM-focused trainees from diverse backgrounds at ARC; (2) Trainee exposure to and engagement with research at ARC; (3) An intensive Summer Bridge research experience at UCD prior to transfer; (4) Placement into research labs beginning with the trainees' first quarter at UCD; and (5) A multifaceted retention plan. In addition to research experience, students in the B2B program will also receive administrative, academic, and career-skills support through our coordination with AvenueB and AvenueE, programs at UCD that recruit, support and retain biological science and engineering science-oriented underrepresented, low income, first- generation and women college transfer students (i.e., historically excluded populations). At ARC, a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) embedded in the first semester major’s biology class will connect interested students to research opportunities available for units as independent studies. The administration of these independent study experiences will be led by ARC faculty and technicians with UCD faculty and students providing supplemental programming and support. These efforts will expand the opportunities for the diverse student population at ARC to engage in science and research early in their academic journey. At UCD, a Summer Bridge research experience will immerse students in a research environment that mimics key elements of undergraduate research and provides training in robust experimental design, reproducibility, data analysis, responsible conduct in research, an introduction to computation, and career development. Day-to-day mentorship will be provided from staff, faculty and advanced undergraduates and will focus on building our trainees’ sense of community and belonging. Following the summer bridge program, B2B trainees will be placed in faculty research labs under the mentorship of one of the B2B program’s selected faculty mentors and transition to existing training programs (e.g. NIH- MARC) for extra support. Demonstrated success of the partnership between ARC and UCD will lay the groundwork for developing similar collaborations with other community colleges.