Conference: Botany 2022, PUI Section: Careers and Mentorship at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

William Jewell College, Liberty MO

Investigators

Abstract

Faculty mentors of undergraduate researchers at public and private liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and branch campuses (collectively, PUIs) train over half the undergraduate STEM majors in the United States. Broadening participation in plant sciences, biodiversity sciences, and related disciplines requires recruiting and retaining faculty mentors with mentoring strategies that are effective for students from diverse backgrounds. Multiple training experiences for current and prospective PUI faculty will be held in conjunction with the BOTANY 2022 meeting, with the aims of broadening participation in the discipline and supporting STEM education at the undergraduate level. A program of three, varied events at BOTANY 2022 will be supported. First, a half-day workshop in which participants receive training in inclusive mentoring strategies that support successful undergraduate research experiences, will be offered. Workshop participants will explore how their social identities influence the mentor-mentee relationship and will learn how to help students become active contributors in the mentoring relationship and develop a mentoring mosaic to support their success. Second, a career panel on applying to and interviewing for positions at PUIs, intended for graduate students, postdocs, and their faculty mentors, will be convened. Finally, a networking event for all faculty and individuals interested in botany at PUIs will be held to aid in developing local and disciplinary networks for post-meeting collaborations in support of undergraduate research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.