Virginia Commonwealth University Initiative for Maximizing Student Development

描述（由申请人提供）：弗吉尼亚联邦大学（VCU） IMSD项目是由一项自我研究推动的，该研究表明STEM-H专业的少数族裔本科生和生物医学科学专业的博士生在他们的学术项目中表现不佳。最初提案的目的是针对生物医学科学的博士生和生物学本科生，主要是为了增加(a) URM生物专业的学生留在本专业，参与本科研究，在完成学位后就读生物医学博士课程，并完成生物医学学科博士学位的人数，以及(b)提高URM生物医学科学学生的学习成绩和研究效率。在目前的支助期间，我们在实现这些目标方面取得了重大进展。该项目支持了23名参与指导研究的马里兰大学本科生，并通过生物学本科生研究协调员为这些人提供学术/职业咨询，该职位是由弗吉尼亚州立大学- imsd、弗吉尼亚州立大学- marc和弗吉尼亚州立大学人文与科学学院合作开发的。IMSD的两名本科学者都已完成学位，目前正在攻读生物医学科学方面的额外培训。75%受资助的VCU-IMSD博士生在攻读学位方面取得了良好的进展，其中第一批人将在2013年春季或夏季完成博士学位。我们将这些数据视为VCU-IMSD“正在发挥作用”的证据，但也认识到需要进一步开发项目，以提高我们的成功率，提高我们为学员提供的体验的质量。为了实现这些目标，这项竞争性更新的具体目标是：(1)为每年16名IMSD本科生和4名IMSD博士生提供指导研究经验；(2)：(3)设计和提供丰富的活动，培养学员的批判性思维/解决问题的能力，提高沟通技巧，提高对与他们的兴趣和个性相辅相成的职业的认识；(4)确保至少60%的IMSD本科生参加有竞争力的生物医学科学博士课程。(5)确保90%的注册IMSD学者完成生物医学科学博士课程；(6)采用积极的招聘策略，使URM向生物医学科学博士门户网站的申请增加100%；(7)提高URM博士生的生产力，使其与同龄人相当。重点指导和仔细选择研究导师将被用来提高IMSD博士生的生产力。我们相信我们的目标是可以实现的，并且与IMSD项目的目标是一致的，即“培养一批训练有素的本科生和研究生，他们将继续从事研究工作，并可参与美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究。”

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) IMSD program was prompted by a self-study that indicated underrepresented minority (URM) undergraduates in STEM-H majors and PhD students in the biomedical sciences were underperforming in their academic programs. The aims of the original proposal were focused on PhD students in the biomedical sciences and Biology undergraduates and were largely designed to increase (a) numbers of URM biology majors who remained in the major, participated in undergraduate research, enrolled in biomedical PhD programs after completing the degree, and completed the PhD in biomedical disciplines and (b) improve academic performance and research productivity of URM students in the biomedical sciences. During the current period of support we have made significant progress towards achieving these goals. The program supported 23 URM undergraduates who participated in mentored research and provided academic/ career counseling to these individuals and countless more through the Undergraduate Research Coordinator in Biology, a position developed through a partnership between VCU-IMSD, VCU-MARC, and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences. Both of the IMSD Undergraduate Scholars have finished the degree to date are pursuing additional training in the biomedical sciences. Seventy five percent of supported VCU-IMSD PhD students are making good progress towards their degrees and the first of these individuals will complete the PhD in spring or summer of 2013. We view these data as evidence that VCU-IMSD "is working", but also recognize the need for further program development to increase our success rate and improve the quality of the experience that we provide to trainees. To accomplish those goals, the specific aims of this competitive renewal are: (1) To provide mentored research experiences for 16 IMSD Undergraduate Scholars/ year and 4 IMSD PhD students/ year, (2): To use both well-tested and novel strategies to increase academic success of IMSD trainees, (3) To design and deliver enrichment activities that develop trainees' critical thinking/ problem solving skills, improve communications skills, increase awareness of careers that complement their interests and personalities, (4) To ensure that at least 60% of IMSD Undergraduate Scholars enroll in competitive PhD programs in the biomedical sciences, (5) To ensure that e 90% of IMSD Scholars who enroll complete PhD programs in the biomedical sciences, (6) To use aggressive recruiting strategies to increase URM applications to the Biomedical Sciences Doctoral Portal by 100%, and (7) To increase productivity of URM PhD students to be comparable to that of their peers. Focused mentoring and careful selection of research mentors will be used to enhance productivity of IMSD PhD students. We believe our aims are achievable and consistent with the goals of the IMSD Program "to develop the pool of a diverse group of highly trained undergraduate and graduate students who go on to research careers and will be available to participate in NIH-funded research."