San Antonio Texas Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program

University Of Texas San Antonio, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a Hispanic Serving and Minority Institution, is joining effort with St. Philip's College (SPC), both a Historically Black College and a Hispanic Serving Institution, in order to improve the motivation, awareness, and attitudes of minority students at the community college level in preparation for a professional career in biomedical research. The overall goal of this project is to provide a 'Bridge to the Baccalaureate' between these two Minority Institutions, for minorities who are underrepresented in the biomedical research fields. Two research faculty at UTSA and at SPC will be jointly responsible for administering a comprehensive program to ease the burden of minority students in their completion of an Associates Degree in Biology or Chemistry at SPC with transfer to a Bachelors Degree in Life Sciences at UTSA. Introduction to basic and biomedical research will be an emphasis beyond the academic nurturing to be provided through close mentoring, advising, and tutoring. There are five particular goals; the first two focus on SPC and the final 3 focus on UTSA. 1) To increase the number of minorities entering the Biological and Chemical Sciences; identification, recruitment, and retention activities are proposed. The primary objective is to increase the number of Hispanic and African American majors in Biology and Chemistry by ten per year. As part of the identification process we will gain permission to use the students' identification numbers for tracking; 2) To increase the number of minorities in research laboratory training activities; 15 SPC students per year will receive support for entry level training in research laboratories at SPC and UTSA; 3) To increase the transfer rate of SPC Biology and Chemistry minority graduates to UTSA under the 2+2 Articulation Agreement; we expect to double the number of Hispanic and triple the number of Black transfers with these majors; 4) To increase the number of SPC transfers to complete their BS degree in biology at UTSA; we expect to achieve the national average; 5) To increase the number of SPC students entering research training programs as undergraduates. A tracking system is proposed that will link mechanisms for institutional databases and analyses with dedicated computer tracking within Bridge Offices at both SOP and UTSA. All identified and participant students will be followed by student ID numbers through their entire undergraduate education at SPC and UTSA. This unique identifier will also allow tracking conjointly with UTSA research training programs (e.g., MBRS and MARC) that can continue support and data entry into the NIGMS-ESTAR system subsequent to their support by this Bridge to the Baccalaureate Program. Long range goals include curriculum and research enhancement at SPC.