Bridges to the Baccalaureate at Purchase College State *

College At Purchase, Purchase NY

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Purchase College, State University of New York, in collaboration with Westchester Community College, Dutchess Community College, Orange County Community College, Rockland Community College and Nassau Community College, the American Health Foundation and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, will implement a continuation and expansion of the current Purchase College Bridges to the Baccalaureate Degree Program. This program serves underrepresented minority students and enables them to attain careers and/or advanced degrees in biomedical research. The broad, long-term objectives of this Bridges Program are: 1. To increase the number of underrepresented students in the sciences 2. To provide challenging scientific curriculum, academic support and financial support for underrepresented students enabling them to complete a baccalaureate degree program in biology, chemistry, environmental science, math/computer science, or psychology 3. To provide two summer research programs, one for first-year community college students and one for second-year students that offer intensive mentoring of students by faculty within a laboratory research environment 4. To assist students who complete their Bachelor's degrees with placement in jobs and/or advanced study in the biomedical research field 5. To increase collaborative arrangements among associate degree and baccalaureate degree granting institutions, and with corporate and research institutions 6. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Bridges program. The project will utilize the E-STAR (Electronic Student Tracking and Reporting) program to facilitate its administration and evaluation. Students will be carefully monitored and tracked throughout their participation in the Program. Data to demonstrate the benefits of this Program on retention, graduation and transfer rates to the next highest degree program will be maintained and disseminated through the websites of the six colleges that are members of the consortium.