A graduate partnership to expand educational opportunities at an HBCU

说明(由申请人提供)：关于少数族裔接受高等教育的研究普遍表明，少数族裔学生在入学方面比非少数族裔学生有更多的障碍需要克服。2005年，特拉华州立大学和德雷克塞尔大学医学院的神经科学项目结成了合作伙伴关系，试图克服少数族裔学生成功进入并完成博士课程的障碍。2006年，他们开始了苏黎世州立大学-德雷克塞尔大学神经科学双学位硕士-博士研究生项目，首批学生于2008年秋季从密歇根州立大学过渡到德雷克塞尔大学。目前合作的目标是扩大双学位研究生课程的范围，不再仅仅是神经科学，而是将得克萨斯大学的所有生物医学硕士课程与德雷克塞尔医学院的生物医学博士课程联系起来。该项目包括以下具体目标：1)将从得克萨斯大学毕业并获得生物医学硕士学位的少数民族学生人数从每年1-3人增加到每年5-7人；2)将生物医学硕士毕业生继续攻读博士学位的人数从每年1-2人增加到每年3-5人；3)加强得克萨斯大学生物系的硕士项目，使所有毕业生都有资格获得德雷克塞尔生物医学博士项目的高级地位；4)将德雷克塞尔大学生物医学博士项目中人数不足的少数族裔研究生的比例从9%提高到20%。该项目的一个关键组成部分将是升级德雷克塞尔大学的视频会议能力和基础设施，以便通过视频会议有效地教授德雷克塞尔的课程和研讨会。为了实现这些目标，该项目将以成功的神经科学双学位项目的模式为基础，并将其扩展到包括另外两个生物医学博士项目：分子和细胞生物学与遗传学；以及微生物学和免疫学，这两个项目培养了德雷克塞尔医学院的大量博士生。一个由得克萨斯州立大学教职员工组成的特别工作组和德雷克塞尔生物医学研究生项目的教职员工主任将会面，为该项目的硕士课程部分制定课程，为学生进入高级博士项目做准备。与神经科学项目一样，生物医学相关学位项目的课程将包括从该项目学生的第一学期开始参加德雷克塞尔大学的课堂、研究生研讨会和其他研究生项目。与神经科学项目一样，我们计划在项目期间，密歇根州立大学生物学硕士学生将通过视频会议和现场出席相结合的方式至少学习两门Drexel课程，项目中的每个MS学生都将有一名Drexel教师顾问，他们将在他或她的论文委员会任职。得克萨斯州立大学生物学硕士研究生还将有机会在德雷克塞尔实验室进行实验室轮换和论文研究项目。到项目结束时，我们预计将有：1)增加来自代表性不足群体的学生人数，他们进入生物医学MS项目的目的是进入博士项目并从事研究；2)建立发展活动，帮助生物医学科学的MS学生更容易地过渡到博士项目；以及3)加强DSU的研究生课程和研究培训，为生物医学MS项目的学生提供使他们能够在博士项目中取得成功的知识和技能。 公共卫生相关性声明：这项计划将通过以下方式帮助增加少数族裔学生进入并完成生物医学博士课程的人数：1)在得克萨斯大学和德雷克塞尔大学的生物医学博士项目之间建立研究生教育伙伴关系，以加强HBCU下属的得克萨斯大学的生物医学研究生课程；2)培养有兴趣攻读高级学位但尚未准备进入博士课程的少数族裔研究生的学术和研究技能；3)通过让研究生参与一流医学院的研究培训和指导，培养他们攻读博士学位的兴趣。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Studies of minority access to higher education have generally shown that minority students have more barriers to overcome in matriculating than do non-minority students. In 2005, Delaware State University and the Neuroscience program at Drexel University College of Medicine formed a partnership to try to overcome barriers to minority students successfully entering and completing PhD programs. In 2006 they began a joint DSU-Drexel dual-degree MS-PhD graduate program in neuroscience that has seen its first students transition from DSU to Drexel in fall of 2008. The objective of the current partnership is to expand the dual-degree graduate program from just neuroscience the program to link all biomedical M.S. programs at DSU with the biomedical Ph.D. programs at Drexel Medical School. The project includes the following specific aims: 1) To increase the number of minority students graduating from DSU with an M.S. in biomedical science from 1 - 3 per year to 5 - 7 per year; 2) To increase the number of Biomedical MS graduates continuing on to PhD programs from 1 - 2 per year to 3 to 5 per year; 3) To strengthen the M.S. programs in the Department of Biology at DSU so that all graduates qualify for advanced status in Drexel's biomedical Ph.D. programs; 4)To increase the percentage of under-represented minority graduate students in biomedical PhD programs at Drexel from 9 to 20. A key component of the project will be upgrading the videoconferencing capabilities and infrastructure at DSU so that Drexel courses and seminars can be delivered effectively by videoconference. To meet these objectives, this program will build on the model of the successful neuroscience dual degree program and expand it to include two other Biomedical Ph.D. programs that train a large number of PhD students at Drexel Med: Molecular and Cell Biology & Genetics; and Microbiology and Immunology. A task force of DSU faculty and the faculty directors for the Drexel Biomedical Graduate Programs will meet to develop a curriculum for the M.S. component of the program that will prepare students to enter the PhD program with advanced status. Like the neuroscience program, the curriculum for the biomedical linked- degree program will include participation in classes, graduate seminars and other graduate program offerings at Drexel starting from the first semester that students are in the program. Like the neuroscience program, we plan that over the course of the program, DSU Biology M.S. students will take at least two Drexel courses through a combination of videoconferencing and live attendance, and that every MS student in the program will have a Drexel faculty advisor who will serve on his or her thesis committee. DSU Biology M.S. students will also have the opportunity to conduct lab rotation and thesis research projects in Drexel laboratories. By the end of the program we expect to have: 1) increased the number of students from underrepresented groups who enter biomedical MS programs with the intent to enter a PhD program and pursue a career in research; 2) established developmental activities that will help MS students in biomedical sciences more easily make the transition to PhD programs; and 3) strengthened DSU's graduate courses and research training to give students in biomedical MS programs the knowledge and skills that will allow them to be successful in PhD programs. Public Health Relevance Statement: This program will help increase the number of minority students who enter and complete PhD programs in Biomedical Science by: 1) Creating a graduate education partnership between DSU and the Biomedical Ph.D. programs at Drexel University that will strengthen biomedical graduate programs at DSU, an HBCU; 2) Building the academic and research skills of minority graduate students who are interested in pursuing an advanced degree, but are not ready to enter a PhD program; 3) Fostering interest in pursuing a PhD by involving graduate students in research training and mentoring at a first rate medical school.