Impact of Summer Undergraduate Research ... - ACS Publications

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Chapter 9

Impact of Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences on Baccalaureate Success by American Indian Students Glenn D. Kuehn* Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, New Mexico State University, MSC 3C, P.O. Box 30001, 1175 North Horseshoe Drive, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, United States *E-mail: [email protected]

This chapter includes descriptions of (i) the overall design of a twenty-year project that recruited American Indian students from two-year community colleges at or near tribal nations in the Southwest USA into summer research experiences in the biomedical sciences (chemistry, biochemistry, biology, computer science, microbiology, molecular biology, genetics, etc.) at a research-intensive, four-year university; (ii) the integrated plan of individual and institutional activities that were successful in advancing these students from the community college level to subsequent completion of baccalaureate degrees in science disciplines at four-year institutions; and (iii) the outcomes of the program during its duration. The chapter identifies five likely elements of this program that were most successful in achieving a 77% transfer rate from the students’ respective community colleges to a four-year university (compared to 21% transfer rate for all community students nationally), a low first-year attrition rate of 17% after transfer (compared to 52% attrition rate for American Indian students nationally in all disciplines), and a 51% completion rate of the baccalaureate degree within ten semesters of transfer (compared to 20.2% completion rate nationally for American Indian students in STEM disciplines). Practical insights are provided for potential program directors who are contemplating

© 2016 American Chemical Society Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


similar programs with American Indian students in the physical and biological sciences.

In 2014, New Mexico State University (NMSU) celebrated the 100th American Indian student to earn a baccalaureate degree as a former participant of its “Bridge Program.” The “Bridge Program” is an abbreviated name for a formal program that was initiated in 1992 at NMSU through funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under its Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) Division. The formal name of the program at NMSU was called the “Bridges to American Indian Students in Community Colleges Program.” From its inception, the Bridge Program was designed according to general guidelines announced by the MORE Division of NIH. The intended long-term goal of NIH was to enlarge the pool of community college students comprised of underrepresented student groups (American Indian, Hispanic, or African American) in biomedical science disciplines that advanced to research careers in the science fields. As a first step to attaining the long-term goal, the short-term goal of the Bridge Program was to enlarge the pool of underrepresented students who transitioned from a two-year institution to a four-year institution, with subsequent completion of the baccalaureate degree. The specific objectives of the program were to develop and implement an integrated plan of individual and institutional activities that would increase students’ preparedness and skills as they progressed toward transfer to a four-year university and then advanced academically in the pursuit of baccalaureate degrees in biomedical science disciplines. Summer research experiences for community college students in the biomedical science disciplines (biochemistry, chemistry, biology, computer science, microbiology, molecular biology, genetics, etc.) were the undergirding, principal framework around which the entire program was designed. This chapter summarizes the overall programmatic designs that were implemented during the first two decades of operation of the Bridge Program at NMSU from 1992 through 2012. During this period, the program at NMSU recruited and engaged 252 American Indian students. Overall, 195 of the participants, 77.3%, transferred to a four-year university subsequent to participation in the Bridge Program. Of those that transferred, at least 51.3% completed the baccalaureate degree in a science discipline within ten semesters of transferring, with significantly more degrees yet to be completed. Significantly, 28% of those who completed a B.S. degree, advanced to graduate schools where they earned 22 master’s degrees and 8 PhD degrees. These outcomes exceeded those of published rates of transfer, attrition, and completion of university degrees by American Indian undergraduates (1, 2), which will be discussed as “Outcomes” later in this chapter. This chapter includes descriptions of the general designs of the Bridge Program at NMSU, which exclusively recruited American Indian undergraduate students from three two-year community colleges in the Southwest USA. The chapter also provides practical insight for potential program directors who are contemplating similar 154 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

programs with American Indian, as well as other underserved ethnic minority students, in the sciences.


Type of Program: The Bridges to the Future Program Sponsored by the NIH The NIH has had a long history of sponsoring programs designed to diversify the personnel engaged in biomedical research in the USA. The justification for this effort is clear: since the type of biomedical research that is conducted is largely determined by individual investigators, the greater the diversity of researchers, the more varied and comprehensive the research outcomes are likely to be. A more diverse pool of researchers will likely address a broader community and a wider range of issues than is currently the case. NIH initiated its first efforts in this area in 1972 with a program entitled: Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (3). In 1974, NIH initiated a second program, now called Maximizing Access to Research Careers-Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (MARCU*STAR) Program for honors students who were underrepresented in science disciplines (3). Initiation of numerous other programs followed in succeeding years, which focused on enhancing the research participation of African American, Hispanic/Chicano, and/or American Indian undergraduate students who were enrolled in four-year colleges and universities that offered programs for the baccalaureate degree (2). However, access to American Indian students who could be recruited for participation in these programs was severely limited. Few universities have significant populations of enrolled students who are of American Indian ethnicity. Even fewer American Indian students are enrolled in baccalaureate degree programs in the biomedical science disciplines. Only a small number of postsecondary institutions enroll significant numbers of American Indian students. These institutions are located in regions near communities where American Indians commonly reside. Most of these institutions are located in the western USA and they are two-year community colleges. Moreover, in 1992, a 54% majority of American Indian students who were enrolled in postsecondary education attended two-year institutions (4). In Southwestern USA, three two-year institutions alone boasted a combined enrollment of 5,072 American Indian students (5). These institutions were Diné College at Shiprock, New Mexico, University of New Mexico-Gallup Branch at Gallup, New Mexico, and San Juan College at Farmington, New Mexico. These students were entirely inaccessible for recruitment to participate in programs initiated earlier by NIH, which were administratively based at major four-year research institutions. Thus, in October 1992, NIH initiated a new recruitment program that targeted American Indian students, and other under-represented minority students, who were enrolled in two-year institutions. The program was initiated by the NIGMS-MORE Division, under the title: Bridges to the Future: Associate to the Baccalaureate Degree Program (3). Currently this program is called: Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program (R25). In 1992, NIH initially funded seven Bridges to the Future programs after competitive review of solicited proposals. One of the original seven was funded at NMSU. Currently, NIH 155 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


supports 43 of these programs throughout the USA, each with a unique emphasis of serving African American, Hispanic/Chicano, or American Indian community college students. The purpose of the program was to increase the pool of community college students from underrepresented backgrounds who advanced to research careers in the biomedical sciences and ultimately participated in NIH-funded research. The program allowed institutional partnerships to be formed between community colleges granting the associate degree and colleges or universities that offered the baccalaureate degree. The institution granting a bachelor’s degree in a consortium was required to have strong science curricula, a past record of enrolling, retaining, and graduating students who pursued advanced degrees in biomedical research fields, and a significant fraction of faculty members engaged in externally-funded research. Community colleges and other two-year post-secondary educational institutions in the consortium were required to offer associate degree programs in the biomedical science disciplines.

Demographics and Composition of the Program Consortium The bachelor’s degree-granting institution for the program described here was New Mexico State University (NMSU). NMSU was also the lead administrative institution of the overall Bridge Program consortium. The number of participating community college partners varied from three to five institutions but three were consistent partners. These partners were listed in the previous section. A brief description of each partner illustrates the strengths that it brought to the consortium. Diné College (DC) at Shiprock, NM, situated on the Diné tribal reservation, was established in 1968 as part of the first tribally-controlled community college system in the United States. It is managed entirely by the Diné Nation and thus is often referred to as a true tribal community college. The institution is under the direction of a ten-member Board of Regents, members who are confirmed by the Inter-Governmental Relations Committee of the Diné Nation Council. Satellite campuses exist at six other locations throughout the reservation. DC awards associate degrees and technical certificates in 18 areas important to the economic and social development of the Diné Nation. Students can complete preparatory courses that allow them to transfer to institutions with baccalaureate degree programs. In 1992, the enrollment at DC and its six satellite campuses was 1,753 students with 99+% being of American Indian ethnicity, most from the Diné Tribe (Diné = formerly Navajo). The number of students enrolled in science-based degree programs was 127. Formal articulation agreements existed between Diné College and NMSU that defined specific courses for which academic credits were fully transferable to NMSU for baccalaureate degree completion. The Branch Community College of the University of New Mexico at Gallup, NM (UNM-Gallup) was established in 1968 as a satellite campus of the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, NM. It is managed entirely by the UNM system and thus is a state-supported community college. Its mission, in part, is to serve the needs for vocational education, technical certification, and transfer to 156 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


baccalaureate programs for a large American Indian student enrollment derived from the Zuni, Acoma, and Laguna Pubelos, and Diné and White Mountain Apache Tribes. UNM-Gallup awards associate degrees in 28 programs. In 1992, the enrollment at UNM-Gallup was 2,796 students, 2,041 (73%) of whom were American Indian students, and 303 American Indian students enrolled in science-based degree programs. This was the largest percentage and number of American Indian student population at any post-secondary public institution in the USA (5). The percentage is still the largest today with an enrollment of 2,693 American Indian students (76.6%). UNM-Gallup and NMSU had fully articulated academic programs. San Juan College (SJC) at Farmington, NM, was initially founded in 1956 as a branch campus community college for NMSU. It retained this status until 1982 when San Juan County public school districts approved its separation from NMSU. The institution has since been fully independent of NMSU. It is a true community college that is controlled and funded by the city of Farmington. Its mission, in part, is to serve the post-secondary needs for American Indian students derived from the Diné, Ute, Jicarilla Apache, and Tohajiilee Tribes, and the Tewa, Jemez, and Towoac Pubelos. SJC awards associate degrees in 11 areas, including disciplines allied with the basic biomedical sciences. In 1992, the total enrollment at SJC was 4,658 students, including 1,132 (24.3%) American Indian students with 213 enrolled in science-based degree programs. Since 1992, enrollments of American Indian students enrolled at SJC have increased markedly to a current total of 3,087, representing 27.3% of the institution’s enrollment. Thus, SJC has the largest absolute number of American Indian students among its enrollees of any post-secondary institution in the USA. New Mexico State University (NMSU) at Las Cruces, NM, the state’s land grant university, is a comprehensive state-supported university. In 1992, it was organized under six undergraduate colleges that enrolled 15,500 students and a graduate school of 2,809 students. The colleges included Arts and Sciences, Agriculture, Engineering, Education, Business Administration and Economics, Health and Social Services, and the Graduate School. NMSU has departments and baccalaureate degree curricula in all of the basic biomedical science disciplines including biochemistry, chemistry, biology, molecular biology, genetics, microbiology, physics, computer science, mathematics, environmental sciences, nutrition, animal science, plant sciences, public health, and nursing. It offers 74 different baccalaureate degrees, 51 master’s degree programs, and 25 doctoral programs. NMSU also overseers the management of four community colleges at branch campuses located throughout the State which had a combined enrollment of 6,622 students. In the fall of 1992, the campus at Las Cruces enrolled 499 American Indian students and the affiliated branch two-year community colleges enrolled 452. The American Indian students enrolled at the branch campuses and NMSU derived mainly from the state’s 19 tribal and pueblo groups that had a total population of 161,000 indigenous people (10.2% of total state population). Thus the total NMSU system enrolled 951 American Indian students. NMSU is ranked as one of the 150 Carnegie I research-intensive institutions in the USA. It is classified as a Minority Institution by the US Department of Education, having greater than 50% underrepresented minority 157 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


student populations (50.8%). It is one of only two PhD-granting institutions in the USA which is classified simultaneously as a Carnegie I institution, a Minority Institution, and a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Moreover, NMSU is one of only three Carnegie I institutions ranked by the National Science Foundation as one which serves significant numbers of two ethnic minority student groups, namely American Indians and Hispanics The central rationale for establishing this consortium of institutions for a Bridges to the Future Program derived from the large pool of American Indian students who were enrolled in science curricula at the two-year institutions. Among the combined enrollments of 5,072 American Indian students were at least 540 American Indian students enrolled in basic biomedical science courses. At least 101 students were actively pursuing associate degrees in these disciplines. Each of the institutional partners was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Membership in this accrediting association made possible the transfer of academic credits to other colleges and universities. Each had a comprehensive academic structure with decades of experience serving American Indian students. All offered associate of science degrees in the basic biomedical science disciplines including chemistry, biology, physics, computer science, mathematics, environmental sciences, public health, and nursing. All offered academic counseling in transfer mechanisms as well as curricula that fostered transfer for completion of the baccalaureate degree at four-year institutions. One major handicap in tapping this potential pool of talent was large geographic distances between the respective partner institutions and NMSU. DC in Shiprock, NM, was 420 miles from NMSU; SJC was 390 miles, and UNM-Gallup was 330 miles. All planning and execution of programmatic activities within the consortium included a consideration of the impact of these distances on one’s capacity to successfully accomplish a programmatic goal.

Practical Suggestions: Program Activities Based at Two-Year Institutions and at NMSU Different types of program activities were implemented to administer the Bridge Program at the community college campuses and at the main campus of NMSU in Las Cruces. None of the components could be considered to be innovative, since they have been used in scores of similar programs supported by the NIH, which are designed to attract underrepresented students into research careers. The methods, however, are effective when administered properly. The Bridge Program was constructed around four specific annual goals. Each required several supporting activities based at different institutions. The goals were the following: (i) The Program sought to conduct an annual academic-year program in order to attract, introduce, and encourage at least 120 American Indian students per year from three community colleges to pursue baccalaureate degree programs in the biomedical science disciplines. 158 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


(ii) The Program sought to conduct an annual two-day orientation program during the month of February/March for 30-35 American Indian students at the campus of NMSU. (iii) The Program sought to select, prepare, relocate, and engage at least 17 American Indian students each summer from the community colleges in a ten-week summer internship consisting of undergraduate research experiences, weekly enrichment activities, workshops, seminars, and a closing-program poster session/banquet ceremony at the NMSU campus. (iv) The Program sought to transfer 70% (~3.3 times the national transfer rate for all community college students) of all American Indian summer interns each year from their respective community colleges to baccalaureate programs in the biomedical science disciplines and foster their retention to completion of their baccalaureate degrees at a ratio of 70% completion (3.5 times the fraction of completion of B.S. degrees in STEM disciplines by American Indian students) within ten semesters of transferring to a four-year university. The objectives and activities of goal (i) were conducted on the campuses of the respective community colleges. The major activities entailed a visiting speaker program at each community college presented by research faculty from NMSU who also subsequently served as research mentors for students during a summer research program. Thus, 20-25 research faculty members were recruited annually to participate as both a visiting speaker and a mentor of a student intern. The faculty presented an academic year series of lectures, workshops, demonstrations, or research seminars to American Indian student audiences at the three partner community colleges. These were given during the academic year of September through April. Faculty coordinators at the community colleges (see below) scheduled these presentations at opportune times and dates, and invited students to attend them through preliminary announcements. Each visit to a community college required at least a sixteen-hour day of effort and travel by a faculty member, due to the distances between NMSU and the community college campuses. Often, two days of travel by faculty were necessary. Some of the faculty presentations emphasized the research projects, which were underway in a respective investigator’s laboratory. Some demonstrated a particular research technique. Some were general discussions of bioethics and biomedical research. Each faculty member was free to present any topic with any format that would generate potential student interest in a summer internship at NMSU in the forthcoming summer. Through this activity, American Indian students made their initial contact with research-oriented faculty from NMSU who would be mentors for the students during a forthcoming nine-week summer project at the NMSU campus. The author believes that this outreach program played a major role in beginning to overcome another major handicap to American Indian pursuit of baccalaureate degrees, i.e., a significant and potentially uncomfortable cultural divide. The program annually set a goal of presenting these seminars to at least 120 American Indian students at the partner institutions. The success of the Bridge Program in general and particularly in implementation of program activities at the community colleges was highly 159 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


dependent on the quality and commitment of one or more Bridge Program coordinators. These coordinators were recruited from among the science faculty at each partner institution. The obligations of these appointees at the community college campuses were extensive due to the large geographical distances between their respective campuses and NMSU. It was the responsibility of these respective coordinators to carry out or ensure the completion of the following duties and activities at the respective community college campuses: schedule seminar dates, times, and locations for visiting lecturers from NMSU; provide or arrange for individual academic advisement of students in order to ensure their proper preparation to participate in summer research activities at the NMSU campus; recommend or select specific students for participation in research activities at NMSU; assist students in completing formal applications for appointment to summer research positions at the NMSU campus; alert the program director of special needs (financial, medical, academic, etc.) of student participants in the program; coordinate travel schedules and arrange transportation details for transporting students to and from the community college sites to NMSU or to national scientific conferences; accompany students and NMSU representatives on all travel events; act as liaison between the community college and NMSU on behalf of student participants; coordinate services between program student participants and managerial personnel in the Academic Transfer office of the respective community colleges in order to assist students in their transfer to a four-year university; accompany NMSU representatives and students to national scientific conferences; communicate and coordinate continuously with the program director and program coordinator at NMSU regarding pertinent matters of the program activities at the community college; provide information for tracking student participants in their academic and career advancement after participation in the Bridge Program. Program coordinators were monetarily compensated for their services on behalf of the program. Goals (ii) and (iii) were conducted at the campus of NMSU in Las Cruces. The activities located at NMSU and the general management of the overall program were conducted by the faculty program director and a fulltime program coordinator. Goal (ii) was conducted in late February or early March of each year. At that time each year, 30-35 American Indian students were invited to visit the campus of NMSU. By consistently using a cohort approach with the students, they were able to feel more at ease in an otherwise foreign setting. All expenses incurred for transportation, lodging, and meals, that were required for this event, were paid by the Bridge Program. These students were generally selected on recommendations from the respective coordinators at the community colleges. Criteria for selection included sound academic performances in formal courses, student interest in a science-related career, student interest in conducting undergraduate research as evidenced by attending visiting-faculty lectures, and high potential for advancement of the student to continue their respective undergraduate education at a four-year university. At this orientation, students participated in an information-packed, introduction to research opportunities at NMSU. This included informational research seminars, visits to science class lectures, tours of operational research laboratories, a visit to the campus library, service laboratories (electron and confocal microscopy, DNA sequencing, 160 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


chemistry structural analyses, animal care facility, cell culturing facility, etc.), introductions to support offices and services that specifically address American Indian student needs, campus housing apartments, and local shopping areas. The orientation program attempted to answer every question that a prospective student would have regarding their relocation to NMSU for the forthcoming summer. Most American Indian students attracted by this Bridge Program had never lived off the tribal reservations. Every aspect of living at a major university community was new to them. This brief two-day orientation reassured them with the knowledge of where they would live for the summer, shop for basic living needs, work, park their car, with whom they would work, and where they could go for help if and when they needed it. One priority introduction was a visit to the NMSU campus American Indian Student Center (AISC). The AISC functions to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for American Indian students making difficult cultural transitions to the collegiate environment (6, 7). The center has a dedicated 7,451 sq. ft. facility that is architecturally designed with Southwest and Native motifs culturally approved by indigenous tribal elders. It is operated by an all-Indian directorship, support, counseling, and tutoring staff. It is equipped with a commons/study area, meditation room, kitchen, Wi-Fi connections, modern computers, printers, faxes, and communication devices for maintaining contacts on the State’s reservations. AISC is an outstanding facility whose mission is to promote American Indian success on the NMSU campus. At the end of the two-day orientation program, students were given application packets and were guided through the application procedures in order to apply for one of seventeen summer undergraduate research internships sponsored by the Bridge Program at NMSU. The deadline for submitting the application was set at March 15th of each year. Thus, students were allowed to make their decision to participate in the summer research program after their orientation visit to NMSU. The orientation program was a critical element in the Program’s capacity to generate an applicant pool for summer internships. This activity was the first introduction of the NMSU campus environs and facilities to the prospective American Indian interns. Most of the students had never previously visited a campus of a major college or university. Especially important was the freedom of choice given to each student applicant to select the faculty member mentor and summer research project on which the student would work. The faculty research summaries presented to students during the orientation visit provided the information that the student needed to make these decisions. This program element frequently resulted in thirty or more applications being annually submitted for the seventeen summer internships. After receipt of the student applications by March 15th, the program coordinator, program director, and an advisory committee, selected seventeen students to fill the available internship positions. The advisory committee had representatives from the campus American Indian Programs office, the College of Arts and Sciences dean’s office, and community college partners. Generally within two weeks of submission of their applications, students were informed of the status of their applications. Student selections were based on the following criteria: student participation in the seminar series during the academic year at the respective community college; student participation in the orientation program; 161 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


student’s expressed interest in completing a B.S. degree in a basic science discipline; student’s interest in a bio-medically related career goal; the favorable recommendation of coordinators/faculty at the relevant partner community college; and student’s past record of commendable academic achievement (gpa above 2.5/4.0, no academic suspensions). Two academic credit hours were earned by each student for their participation in the summer appointment. Thus, each student selected had to formally apply and be admitted to NMSU as an official matriculated student. This was a valuable exercise since it required that students follow all of the formal procedures required to transfer from their respective community college to a four-year university. This necessitated submission of formal course transcripts, completion of transfer documentation, communications with admissions offices, and many other procedures. The experience was an excellent introduction to the transfer process that students would necessarily repeat in the near future after completion of their respective associate degree and transferring to a baccalaureate institution. At each step of transacting this transfer, the Bridge Program coordinator at NMSU was available to provide assistance in completion of the matriculation procedures. The summer program of undergraduate research began on June 1st of each year. Most of the summer interns had not previously lived away from a reservation. This required a myriad of “up front” preparations in order to successfully accomplish the relocation of seventeen students hundreds of miles from reservation homes to the NMSU campus. The Bridge Program arranged and paid all costs of relocation of the seventeen summer interns to its Las Cruces campus. Prior to the students’ arrivals, campus housing was prearranged in university apartments for each student. Upon their arrival, students had prior knowledge of the location and quality of their housing environs. Most students did not own a means of personal transportation or could not afford the costs of relocation. This was remedied through the use of university cargo vans which were driven to the various reservations in order to transport students and their essentials to Las Cruces. Also, during the initial two days on campus, transportation with university vans was made available to transport students to city shopping areas in order to allow them to stock their apartments with essentials for the first week. Thereafter, students were taught how to use public transportation on city buses. Many students had no prior experience with bank accounts and had never made financial transactions with a bank. Hence, assistance was provided to open accounts for individual students at local banks. A two-day per diem, cash advance for each student was essential, in order to provide them financial assistance with partial relocation costs. Students were paid an hourly wage throughout their summer appointment, which necessitated their hiring through the institutional Human Resources Department as formal employees of NMSU. On the first half-day of June 1st, the interns were guided by university registration personnel through procedures associated with being new, first-time matriculated students of the university. The second half of the first day, each student was reacquainted with their respective summer research mentor whom they pre-selected after the Orientation Program in late February. Their assimilation in the operation of a working research environment thus began on their first official day of the summer program. 162 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


During the first week of the summer research program, students spent their morning hours enrolled in a mandatory Laboratory Safety training course (fire, chemical handling, chemical disposal, hazardous waste, best laboratory practices, etc.) taught by full-time staff from the University Safety Office. This training is required of all new personnel who work in research laboratories at NMSU. Their afternoon hours were spent working in their respective research laboratories. Upon completion of safety training, each student worked full-time each day on a research project under the mentorship of the respective faculty adviser. Although the research laboratory experience was the undergirding programmatic element, weekly workshops were scheduled to strengthen the students’ research skills. For an hour and half each week, students participated in a computer skills training workshop. This workshop gave them access to a university Internet account for computer facilities, printers, plotters, and instructional-personnel assistance on a continuous basis. They were taught basic skills and interfacing using Microsoft Word Processing, PowerPoint, Excel, statistical analyses, and chemical structure drawing. All of these skills were essential in communicating their research results. Also, for one to two hours each week, they engaged in a special workshop designed to improve their skills in science writing, research poster design and preparation, university survival, knowledge of transfer mechanisms from their community college to NMSU, knowledge of ethical conduct of research, and effective financial planning necessary to complete their B.S. degree at a four-year university. Three workshops were dedicated to development of skills and techniques for science communications: speaking, writing, and presentations. Periodically, seminars on varied topics were presented by visiting lecturers from other universities who were American Indian scientists. Throughout the summer, all students were guided through, and required to complete, an “Individual Development Plan” as a tool for charting and planning a scientific research-based career. This plan included semester-by-semester academic and financial planning after transferring from their respective community college and for completion of the baccalaureate degree. The research experience and the mentorship of a faculty adviser were the programmatic buttresses of the entire summer program. The reasons for this derived from a host of benefits for the student interns that evolved from the faculty mentor/summer intern relationship. Interns were assimilated into the routine of laboratory investigations conducted by project colleagues comprised of other undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral collaborators, and research technicians. The synergy of interactions provided by such a work environment gave interns continuous access to knowledgeable advice and assistance. Interns were actively involved in weekly research group meetings, daily discussions and planning with their respective faculty mentor and other laboratory personnel, and all of the interactions that accompany active research investigations. These interactions continued and extended beyond the research laboratory. When interns later matriculated to NMSU in order to complete the B.S. degree, most continued to maintain contact with the people who were their working partners during their summer research experiences. The faculty mentor, especially, became a constant contact, with whom the intern could consult for academic advisement or solution of problems when dealing with the bureaucracy of a large university. 163 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


This constancy of support was a major element for the success of the overall Bridge Program. Goal (iv) was a shared element of both the community college partners and the NMSU Bridge Program. For two decades, the program exercised a unified plan in order to achieve at least a 70% transfer rate of summer community college interns to a four-year university and at least a 70% completion rate of the baccalaureate degree by those who transferred. The unified plan began in September each year with a day of planning by the community college coordinators and the program director. The planning objectives were to schedule the forthcoming year of programmatic activities and to reach agreement on goals, methods, deadlines, and communication. Thereafter, monthly conference telephone calls among the members of the planning group provided further training for the coordinators in order to ensure program consistency. Program coordinators at the partner institutions began by identifying students who had achieved academic grade point averages near 3.0 or who had demonstrated recent efforts to improve their grade point average. Students were sought who were committed to completion of an associate degree in one of the basic biomedical science disciplines enumerated earlier. These students were invited to participate in all Bridge Program activities on the community college campuses as described earlier. Program coordinators among the community college faculty ensured that these students received thorough academic advisement for transfer credits that supported their degree objectives at a four-year institution. Each community college had an extensive history and record of formal assistance to its students who desired to transfer to baccalaureate degree programs. Specific personnel at the community colleges and NMSU were available to guide students through the transfer procedures. Formal transfer agreements between NMSU and the partner institutions also clearly defined for students how their respective transfers to NMSU would be accomplished. Students from UNM-Gallup and San Juan College, who met criteria for regular admission and wished to attend NMSU, were eligible to matriculate to NMSU without submission of a formal application. Students simply entered NMSU as a “continuing student.” Their admission was guaranteed. Students from the Diné College tribal institution, who desired to transfer, were guaranteed admission in accordance with a formal agreement called the Transfer Guide. This was an articulation agreement between NMSU and the Diné College system that determined the transfer credits from the latter institutions. The Transfer Guide was made available to all Bridge Program participants through the transfer and placement counselors at the community colleges. Thorough financial planning and proper advising were cornerstone necessities for the students who wished to transfer from a community college to a baccalaureate degree program. During the students’ summer internship at NMSU, workshops were held in which each student prepared a complete 2-4 year academic schedule for completion of the specific B.S. degree that the student intended to pursue. In addition, each student completed a formal Financial Aide Form through the Student Financial Aide Office which established a financial-need profile. From this analysis, each student determined the finances that were needed to complete a B.S. degree. They then met with a financial 164 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


adviser who prepared a financial aid package that assured availability of the finances needed to complete a B.S. degree. A combination of personal resources, state and federal grants, loans, tribal scholarships, and work-study opportunities virtually assured that every American Indian student had a plan for sufficient resources to complete a B.S. degree. Since Diné College serves students throughout the Diné Nation that geographically straddles the states of Arizona and New Mexico, many Bridge Program participants were officially Arizona residents. NMSU offers in-state residential status to all American Indians that attend NMSU, regardless of state residency or tribal affiliation. Thus, all Bridge Program interns were eligible for reduced in-state tuition costs at NMSU. By the end of the internship summer, every participant had the essential information and resources to transfer to NMSU. Also, the guaranteed opportunity to continue their summer’s research training with the same faculty mentor through participation in other externally funded student-training programs on the NMSU campus such as the Minorities Biomedical Research Program (MBRS-NIH), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Program, the Minority Access To Research Careers Program (MARCU*STAR-NIGMS), or the Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP-NSF), were exceptional resources to foster subsequent retention and completion of the B.S. degree. Most Bridge Program interns that transferred to NMSU pursued a B.S. degree program in a STEM discipline. The formal course curricula for these disciplines required a very high percentage of students to complete one year of introductory chemistry followed by one year of organic chemistry. It was soon evident that these requirements were a major obstacle for successful completion by American Indian students. A major effort was launched to install Treisman-style supplemental instruction workshops into the freshman and subsequent organic chemistry course offerings at NMSU (8). These were initially installed with the assistance of external grant funding. It was subsequently financed by special internal funding from NMSU’s central administration after the workshops proved to be outstandingly effective for insuring student success. Workshops patterned after Treisman-style supplemental instruction reduced the fraction of all NMSU students achieving failing grades in introductory chemistry and organic chemistry from historical levels of 50-60% attrition to less than 15% for students who participated in these workshops. All former Bridge Program students were subsequently advised to participate in these workshops.

Closure of the Summer Research Program Events that include the broader tribal community have high cultural value among indigenous people. Formal closure to important personal events is a very important American Indian tradition that requires the presence of family members, tribal leaders, and tribal elders. Thus, at the end of each summer research program, Bridge Program participants prepared research summary posters that were subsequently presented at a formal closing-banquet to which parents, community college administrators, and tribal elders were invited. The banquet attracted 130-150 attendees each year. This event was our best opportunity to 165 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


showcase to student participants’ parents and tribal elders of the various tribes and pueblos the type of experiences that their sons and daughters received in the program. As a direct result of this activity, the Bridge Program at NMSU earned considerable recognition from tribal authorities for its quality and cultural respect. Research poster preparations and presentations were a major component of this closing ceremony. Much personal pride accompanied the preparations and presentations of these posters. In most cases, it provided students their first opportunity to formally present the results of their summer work. The designs of their respective posters frequently exuded American Indian cultural themes and background information. The closing ceremony was always conducted with American Indian ceremonial traditions with portions given in native languages by a tribal elder. The research posters also gave the interns additional scientific opportunities. Each student was given the opportunity to present the poster at a national student research symposium. All expenses for attending these conferences were paid by the Bridge Program. The opportunity to travel to a societal meeting was often the first time that many of these students had traveled outside of the states of New Mexico or Arizona. This experience literally began to open up the world to them through science. Students were given the choice of presenting posters at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) which is sponsored by NIGMS, the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), or the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). Finally, the research posters served another purpose for the Bridge Program. Many of the summer participants annually returned to their respective community college for an additional year in order to complete an associate degree before transferring to a four-year university. Thus, their research posters were displayed on bulletin boards at their respective community colleges each following academic year. This enhanced the recognition of presenters’ accomplishments among their peers and teachers. The posters also served as advertisements for recruitment of future summer research participants of the Bridge Program in the succeeding academic year.

Quantitative and Qualitative Program Outcomes Owing to variability in faculty schedules and professional priorities, a new cadre of faculty lecturers and faculty research mentors for student participants had to be recruited annually for the Bridge Program at NMSU. These volunteers constituted the backbone for all subsequent activities of the Bridge Program. Figures 1, 2, and 3 illustrate the degree of commitment by NMSU faculty effort for the Bridge Program. Figure 1 shows the number of faculty lecturers who were recruited annually for presentation of workshops on a variety of skills development topics, laboratory techniques, safety demonstrations, and summaries of ongoing research in their respective laboratories. Most of these presentations were given to American Indian student audiences during the academic year. They served as a recruiting vehicle to introduce research faculty to prospective 166 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


students who later became summer research participants. During the latter third of years summarized in this chapter, it was common to annually recruit between 27-38 faculty lecturers for this staffing (see Figure 1). Each of the participating faculty had mentored many American Indian participants of the Bridge Program beginning from 1992. All were highly experienced and highly cognizant of the special needs of American Indian students. A myriad of talents and expertises were required to accomplish all of the needs of the Bridge Program. Each faculty member provided an effort that fulfilled a unique programmatic goal. The faculty who elected to participate in the Bridge Program were a subset of a larger group of faculty who were research mentors for approximately seventy other ethnic minority students (Hispanic/Chicano, African American, American Indian). These were research participants in four other externally-funded research programs identified earlier in this chapter. Thus, there was an even larger pool of experienced faculty available to mentor American Indian students in the Bridge Program. This offered an exceedingly broad choice of research projects from which American Indian participants could select a mentor for summer investigations.

Figure 1. Number of faculty lecturers from New Mexico State University who presented seminars, workshops or demonstrations to American Indian student audiences at community colleges during the academic year. Presentation of many of these events at partner community colleges involved a minimum round-trip travel distance of 600 miles. Many faculty members completed the travel and lecturing in a single day.

167 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


Figure 2 shows the annual number of presentations given by the volunteer faculty from NMSU to American Indian audiences. Between 33-50 lectures were given each year. Most of the annual presentations were conducted during the academic year from September through May. The lectures served to bridge the large geographical distances between NMSU and the distant community colleges by frequent contacts between interested students and active research faculty. The nearest community college was 300 miles distance from NMSU; the farthest was 480 miles. Yet faculty were willing to travel these large distances, often making a round trip and presenting a seminar at a community college location in a single day. It was a goal of the Bridge Program to reach at least 120 American Indian students each year with these presentations in order to ensure that all interested students would be reached through our recruiting efforts. Figure 3 shows the number of American Indian students who annually attended these presentations during the academic year at the community college locations. In the latter third of years shown in Figure 3, between 131-189 students participated each year in the visiting lectures. This pool of students generated the ultimate source from which summer research interns were derived. Students who attended these lectures were also given academic advisement and counseling at their respective community colleges, managed by the Bridge Program coordinator at each site, in order to ensure that academic credits that the students earned supported their eventual transfer to a four-year university.

Figure 2. Number of New Mexico State University faculty presentations (seminars, workshops, demonstrations, etc) given to American Indian student audiences at community colleges each year. A limiting travel budget accounts for fewer presentations per faculty member in recent years.



Figure 3. Number of American Indian science majors (chemistry, biology, computer science, environmental science, animal science, biology, physics, mathematics) at community colleges that annually participated in a visiting lectureship/workshop program. Since year 2006, a goal of this program was to involve at least 120 American Indian science majors in our enrichment activities each year. From the pool of students who attended visiting presentations at the community colleges, approximately thirty were invited each year to attend the preparatory February/March Orientation program at the NMSU campus. Figure 4 shows the number of American Indian students that annually attended the Orientation Program. The purpose of the Orientation Program was three-fold: To demonstrate to visiting American Indian students that there was a presence of their culture on the NMSU campus; to show that American Indian students could succeed in their educational goals at a major university by meeting other American Indian students among the five-hundred Native students normally enrolled at NMSU; and, to give visiting students a vision of what it would be like to live, work, and learn at the NMSU campus during a summer internship. In 1992, the six-year graduation rate for American Indian undergraduates from four-year universities in the USA in all academic disciplines was 31% (9). By 2012, this rate had risen to 37% (10). The freshman-year persistence rate for American Indian students in 1992 was 48% giving an attrition rate of 52% (11). Within STEM disciplines, the six-year graduation rate for American Indian students was significantly lower at 20-24% (12, 13). Non-minority groups in the USA graduated with a rate of ~75% (7, 13). The reasons for these disparities are well known. American Indians have great difficulty bonding to the university environment because there is little in the system with which they identify such as lack of role models, support groups, or elements that portray their culture. Also, many American Indian students, particularly those who have previously and exclusively lived on reservations, experience intolerable cultural changes at a university that soon force them to return to the familiarity of their native home (6, 13, 14). Nearly all of the students that were recruited by the Bridge Program at 169 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


NMSU originated from tribal or pueblo reservations where they were registered census members.

Figure 4. Number of American Indian students from community colleges who attended a campus Orientation Program at New Mexico State University in the month of February/March of each year. This activity prepared 17-20 (see Figure 6) students for relocation from their respective community colleges to the New Mexico State University campus during the summer months. The students conducted a ten-week research project from June 1st to August 7th.

The entire Orientation Program was designed to ameliorate the cultural changes that inevitably occurred in transferring to a four-year university. Most importantly, students were introduced to the offices and services that specifically address American Indian issues through the campus American Indian Programs (AIP) and the Indian Resource Development (IRD) offices. AIP and IRD offered a full complement of services, resources, facilities, and peer-assistances for American Indian students at NMSU. These offices were staffed with professional personnel that were American Indians from various tribes and pueblos. They provided counseling and academic advisement, aid in gaining financial resources, resource materials, tutoring, clerical services, access to computers, printers, photocopying, telephone communications for calls to tribal communities, sponsorship of campus recreational teams, and headquarters for several American Indian campus organizations. All of these were offered under the aegis of an American Indian directive and emphasis. These offices provided a focal point at NMSU where many of the transitional problems to a large university could be ameliorated or avoided. They were campus foci where cultural identity was apparent, fostered, and exhibited with pride.



The effectiveness of the overall programmatic recruitment strategy and Orientation Program was reflected in the annual number of applications subsequently received in competition for seventeen summer research internships as shown in Figure 5 and the number of summer undergraduate research positions filled as shown in Figure 6. In most of the years, between 26-39 applications were received, representing a 52-129% surplus of applications. Those applicants who were not selected for a position at NMSU were given assistance in gaining summer appointments at other universities and research institutions that offered summer undergraduate research programs (see “Value-Added…” section below). In every year of operation of the Bridge Program, all open undergraduate research positions at NMSU, for which funding was available, were filled with American Indian students. During the twenty-year period, the annual number of student participants in summer research varied between 13-21 interns.

Figure 5. Number of applications received by the Bridge Program office at New Mexico State University from American Indian students for summer research internships. The formal application materials were distributed at the Orientation Program (Figure 4) where students were given a deadline to submit their application packets.



Figure 6. Number of American Indian students appointed each year for summer research experiences on the campus of New Mexico State University at Las Cruces. Some appointees each summer were students who had participated in research internships of the Bridge Program the previous summer. Thus, although the total number of research participants shown in this graph is 340, in actually, 252 total students were engaged in research due to repeat-appointments in some years.

Figure 7 shows the number of faculty mentors who annually served as undergraduate research advisers during summer appointments from June 1st through the first week in August. Faculty service was voluntary without monetary compensation. Students selected a research mentor from among about thirty choices after learning about each faculty member’s respective research activities from oral summaries presented by faculty during the Orientation Program. Students selected a compatible mentor and research project prior to arrival at the NMSU campus on June 1st. This allowed preliminary interactions by Internet communication and preparations between the student and mentor prior to the official start date of the summer research project. Completion of early student-mentor pairings avoided later issues concerning compatibility. Some faculty mentors elected to direct research projects for more than one student. This accounts for a lack of strict correspondence between the number of summer student appointments shown in Figure 6 and the number of faculty mentors shown in Figure 7. Throughout the summer, each student was assimilated into the activities and routine of each respective research mentor’s laboratory. Students were expected to contribute a fulltime 40-hour week to their project, but typical of research demands and personal choice, most students contributed extra professional effort commensurate to maintaining momentum and to the needs of unscheduled demands in their projects. 172 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


Figure 7. Number of faculty members at New Mexico State University who served as research mentors for American Indian student participants during summer research experiences sponsored by the Bridge Program. Some faculty members mentored more than one student in a given summer. At the end of the summer program, students prepared summary posters of their project accomplishments. It was a rare occurrence when a student was unable to complete a project poster. When this did occur, it was most often due to a personal or family emergency that prevented completion of the full summer appointment. Figure 8 shows the number of posters prepared each summer. The computer application Microsoft PowerPoint was taught to students during summer computer skills workshops and subsequently used to prepare the summary poster. Completion of the poster summary guaranteed each student the funding and privilege of attending a national societal meeting sponsored by ABRCMS, AISES, or SACNAS, as defined earlier. Most of the summer interns returned to their respective community colleges in the immediate semester following the Bridge Program summer research appointment. Thus, significant effort by the Bridge Program staff at NMSU and Program coordinators at the community colleges was essential to coordinate all of the travel, lodging, and registration requirements for the students in order to attend these national meetings, which required translocation to and from the students’ homes on reservations to the societal meeting sites in geographically distant states. One goal of the Bridge Program was to successfully achieve the transfer of the American Indian student participants from community colleges to STEM degree programs at a four-year university. After transferring, the Program sought to foster successful completion of the baccalaureate degree. Figures 9 and 10 summarize the twenty-year record of the Bridge Program for these two goals. During the 1992-2012 period, 252 American Indian students (Figure 6) from community colleges participated in all elements of the Bridge Program, including summer undergraduate research appointments at NMSU. Subsequently, 195 participants transferred (Figure 9) to a four-year college or university, thus yielding a 77.3% transfer rate. In 2012, the national transfer rate for all students in the USA from a community college to a four-year institution in any academic 173 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


discipline was 21% (15, 16). Thus, American Indian students who participated in this Bridge Program transferred into STEM degree programs at a 3.7-fold higher rate than all other community college students.

Figure 8. Number of research posters prepared and presented by Bridge Program students at annual national conferences. The conferences most often attended by American Indian students were the annual meeting of the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), or the American Indian Society of Engineers and Scientists (AISES).

Figure 9. Number of American Indian student participants of the Bridge Program from community colleges who transferred each year to a four-year baccalaureate program at a four-year college or university. The total number of transfers represented in this graph is 195. 174 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


Figure 10. Cumulative numbers of degrees earned by American Indian student participants of the Bridge Program at New Mexico State University during the period 1992-2012.

At the inception of the Bridge Program in 1992, tribal administrators at Diné College determined that the number of transfers of students completing an A.S. degree from their institution to a four-year institution in the five years that predated the Bridge Program averaged two students per year. The Bridge Program advanced 7.4 students per year from this institution for the period of 1992-2012. Thus, at least a 3.7-fold improvement in student transfers in STEM disciplines was realized through the Bridge Program at this tribal institution. Student retention is another important indicator of overall program effectiveness. In 1992, the initial-year attrition rate for American Indian students who first entered a four-year university was 52% (11). Other sources have reported the attrition rate between 42%-45% (6, 7, 13). The first-year documented attrition percentage for students in this Bridge Program, who transferred from their community college to a four-year institution, was 17.2%. If one applied the highest expectations to those students who transferred at a 77.3% rate, as calculated above, with the standard that they should have completed the B.S. degree within two years (four semesters) after entering a four-year university, a graduation rate of 47.3% could be calculated for students from the Bridge Program. If the standard expectation was extended to three years (six semesters), the graduation rate was 49.8%; if extended to five years (ten semesters), the graduation rate was 51.3%. The total student population of NMSU, including all ethnicities in all academic disciplines, had a graduation rate 175 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


of 44% within ten semesters. Thus, the American Indian students from the Bridge Program completed the B.S. degree in STEM disciplines at a significantly higher rate than all other students in the university. The comparisons with national statistics are equally impressive. The overall national graduation rate of American Indian students in four-year colleges and universities in all academic disciplines was ~25% in year 1992 (7, 14). By year 2007, this national statistic improved to 37% (10). In STEM disciplines, the national graduation rate in 2009 for American Indian students was 20.2% for males and 10.7% for females (17). Thus, at the very least, the ten-semester graduation rate of 51.3% for Bridge Program students surpassed the graduation rates of other American Indian students in USA universities by a factor of 2.5-fold. Another significant calculation is merited. Not all American Indian participants of this Bridge Program who transferred to a four-year university, matriculated to NMSU. Approximately one-third of the participants transferred to other universities. If only those students who matriculated to NMSU are considered, the graduation rate of transferred students was 70.4% over a twenty-year period. The majority of those students who had not yet completed degrees within the years of 1992-2012 were due to those who elected to attend other institutions than NMSU. Without the continuing benefits of the Bridge Program, which continued after transfer to NMSU (see below), student performances declined at other universities. However, 51.3% is the overall degree completion ratio for all Bridge Program participants regardless of the institution to which they transferred. The extended length of time required by American Indian students to complete the B.S. degree has been a consistent characteristic of their performance in postsecondary education (10). Less than half of the Bridge Program participants completed their B.S. degree within eight semesters after transferring from their respective community colleges. This was virtually impossible to control or remedy. Currently, five years (ten semesters) is the approximate average for completion of the B.S. degree by all students of all ethnic backgrounds. A longer tenure to degree completion is most often governed by lack of financial resources. This is most certainly true for American Indian students. Insufficient financial resources forced many students to “stop out” and seek employment until sufficient finances were saved in order to return again to classes. Academic progress was therefore achieved one semester at a time and rarely in a consecutive sequence. Owing to the problem of “stopping out”, it was difficult to determine confidently the absolute attrition and retention rates that had occurred among our former Bridge Program students at four-year universities. Even today, there are students who participated in our Bridge Program 6-7 years ago who are still enrolled periodically at NMSU. Most certainly, the 51.3% degree completion ratio, measured after ten semesters from transferring to a university, will continue to increase with time due the phenomenon of “stopping out”.



Added Value Derived from Bridge Program Activities Several unanticipated and favorable outcomes derived from the activities of the Bridge Program, which were unplanned and undirected. In the years covered by this chapter, between 26-39 applications were received each year in competition for about 17 summer research internships at NMSU. This represented an annual surplus of applications ranging from ~50-130%. Those applicants who were not selected for a summer appointment at NMSU were given assistance in gaining summer appointments at other universities and research institutions that offered summer undergraduate research programs. There was generally a surplus of offers available for these students. The recommendation was made to institutions making these offers to admit at least two students to each institution in order to maintain cultural support in a likely environment that lacked familiarity with American Indian traditions. Thus, the actual number of American Indian students who annually gained summer research appointments through this Bridge Program significantly exceeded those filled only at NMSU. Program coordinators for the Bridge Program, who were appointed from among the science faculty at partner community colleges, provided vital and essential roles in the conduct of the program. Through their many services, enumerated earlier, they established strong working relationships with research faculty mentors from NMSU. The highest academic degree held by many coordinators was a master’s degree. During the period of reporting in this chapter, eight American Indian faculty coordinators independently arranged summer research internships with NMSU research faculty members where they learned procedures in molecular genetics, biochemistry, and chemistry, which enhanced their respective roles as instructors at their home community college. Four of these instructors subsequently returned to graduate school and completed their PhD degrees. Thus, these faculty members improved their teaching expertise, their professional research records, and their own career advancement by attaining higher graduate degrees. The Bridge Program had a profound effect on participation of American Indian students in other NIH-supported programs, which were simultaneously hosted on the NMSU campus from 1976-2012. The MBRS and MARCU*-STAR Programs identified earlier, annually engaged about forty ethnic minority undergraduate students in research projects at NMSU. Historically these programs had recruited very few American Indian undergraduate student participants until the inception of the Bridge Program. Figure 11 shows the effect of the Bridge Program beginning in 1992 on the participation of American Indian undergraduates in these two programs on the NMSU campus. Both programs were able to recruit much larger numbers of American Indian students, after inception of the Bridge Program, than at any earlier time.



Figure 11. Impact of the Bridge Program on the participation of American Indian undergraduate students in NIH-supported, MORE Programs at New Mexico State University (NMSU). The graph shows a thirty-seven year record of numbers of American Indian students who participated in the MBRS and MARCU*-STAR Programs at NMSU from 1976-2012. 1992 was the year of inception of the Bridge Program at NMSU. Lastly, the initial summer research experience provided to American Indian undergraduate students at NMSU was sufficient to motivate them to seek similar appointments at other universities in subsequent years. Although participants were offered the opportunity to apply for a second summer of undergraduate research at NMSU if they were continuing registered students at their respective community college, many chose to apply and participate in summer programs at other universities. Thus, their acculturation to a university research environment was rapid with only a single opportunity to participate in summer research in the Bridge Program at NMSU.

Major Contributors to Success of the Bridge Program As stated earlier, none of the program elements exploited by the Bridge Program could be considered to be innovative, but these “work horses” were harnessed together effectively in this program to bring about some remarkable achievements. Similar procedures have been used in scores of similar programs supported by the NIH and other granting agencies, which are designed to attract underrepresented students into research careers. So why was the Bridge Program at NMSU so successful, compared to national norms, in transferring American Indian students from their community college to a four-year university (77.3% vs 21%), with low first-year attrition (17.2% vs 52%), and completion of B.S. degrees in STEM disciplines (51.3% vs 20.2%)? In fact, American Indian students who participated in the Bridge Program graduated 178 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


with B.S. degrees in STEM disciplines at higher rates than the general NMSU university population in all disciplines (51.3% vs 44%). The Bridge Program at NMSU has not conducted rigorously controlled studies that provide unequivocal answers to this question. However, the author suspects that one or more of the following five traits of this Program were major contributors to its successes. The summer undergraduate research experience was the engine that drove every other activity of the Bridge Program. Early, committed, and effective faculty mentorship in the Bridge Program began with faculty coordinators at the community college level. The responsibilities of the coordinators at the partner institutions were enumerated earlier. The first level of faculty mentorship occurred when the faculty members presented sophisticated talks at the community colleges and set the expectations that those in the audience could be a part of the reseach enterprise if they wished. The second level of faculty mentorship took place during the summer research experiences at the university level. From the research experience, a myriad of synergistic interactions evolved that strongly promoted academic success, social adjustments from the reservation environment to the university environment, solutions to the lack of financial resources, reliable and constant access to academic and societal advisement, student peer support systems, a community to overcome adjustments to independent living in a dominant society, and a vision of future academic advancement. Thus, the role of the faculty research adviser in providing an environment of cultural respect that generated these benefits was critical. The importance of an effective academic mentor who serves with commitment to the goal of improving student success has been well-documented (18–20). The power of undergraduate research experiences to ameliorate student attrition, promote ultimate degree completion, and overcome cultural alienation by minority student groups has also been extensively studied (21–24). Early undergraduate research experiences have been shown to positively affect analytical and critical thinking (25), increase academic achievement and retention (26), clarify choice of academic major (27), and promote advancement into graduate school (28). At NMSU, there was a large cadre of over 40 faculty members who had decades-long formal experience working with minority students involved in undergraduate research dating from 1974 through the MBRS and MARCU*-STAR Programs. These faculty members were accustomed to serving many roles for undergraduate students who chose to work in their respective research laboratories initially as summer research assistants. After summer students of the Bridge Program transferred to NMSU, the former faculty research mentor willingly took on many additional roles without monetary compensation. These roles included being a constant source of academic advisement, an employer of the student as a research aide while the student completed the B.S. degree, a source of trusted professional advice, and a powerful reference for advancing students into graduate schools. Moreover, the large pool of experienced faculty mentors worked on scores of varied research problems that offered students of the Bridge Program broad options for selecting a topic to research that satisfied virtually every preference. The size of each summer’s group of American Indian student interns that participated in the Bridge Program (Figure 6) comprised a critical mass that fostered a large peer-support group among the participants. Peer-support 179 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


was fostered by providing campus apartment housing throughout the summer that allowed interns to live in proximity to one another in an American Indian community. The group intrinsically reflected cultural and ethnic values common to American Indians in an environment that often eschewed values in conflict with those of the summer interns. Bridge Program students were able to create a network of interpersonal relationships within the group of interns that allowed them to solve many work-related and societal-related problems linked with living and working for the first time in their lives away from the reservation. The critical mass of each summer’s group created the students’ own major support group that remedied the common problem of cultural isolation, which accounts for much of the attrition of American Indian students in universities (6, 29). The existence of multiple programs on the NMSU campus, many funded by the NIH, for the training and advancement of minority students from undergraduate status through the PhD degree provided a continuum of opportunities that overcame the single most limiting factor in the academic advancement of American Indian students: lack of sufficient finances to remain continuously matriculated through completion of B.S. and graduate degrees. Combined training grants and investigator-initiated research grants provided a deep resource that could provide continuous support while students continued to work, and be compensated for services rendered, on research projects. Often students continued to develop the same project that the student initiated during their first summer as an intern from a community college. Programs such as MBRS, MARCU*-STAR, HHMI, and later, CDC and INBRE (NIH), were used to channel American Indian students into the most appropriate projects that matched their career preferences. The dramatic impact that the Bridge Program had on the participation of American Indian students in these programs was shown in Figure 11. Although most of the American Indian participants of the Bridge Program completed introductory chemistry at their respective community colleges before transferring to NMSU, most students chose to repeat this course after transferring. This practice derived from uncertainty about the comprehensiveness of their prior introductory course. It was soon evident that both first-year introductory and second-year organic chemistry were major barriers for many students at the university level. After the incorporation of supplemental instruction workshops into the chemistry curriculum in year 1998 at NMSU, which were patterned after the methods of Treisman (8), overall academic performances of transferred American Indian students in chemistry courses at NMSU improved markedly. Supplemental instruction was incorporated into all introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, and introductory biology courses. Supplemental instruction successfully reduced earlier attrition rates for all students that had reached levels of 50-60% in these courses to less than 15% in many course sections. American Indian students, in particular, benefited from these workshops by learning how to study at the pace expected in universities while learning the discipline of chemistry. The study and learning techniques taught in supplemental instruction using peer-led team learning carried over into students’ study habits in other disciplines (30, 31). Attrition due to failures in chemistry courses virtually disappeared with the introduction of supplemental instruction. 180 Murray et al.; The Power and Promise of Early Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


Persistent follow-up was conducted with summer research interns after the summer Bridge Program ended and students returned to their homes on the reservation. Repeated telephone calls, Internet email messages, written letters, and personal contacts were maintained by the coordinator of the Bridge Program at NMSU. Every former intern was contacted regularly and repeatedly with the offer of assistance and troubleshooting services to assist them in completion of their matriculation to a four-year university, securing financial scholarships and loans, arranging housing when attending a university, traveling to reach destinations in order to pursue a baccalaureate program, and a host of other issues that often prevented American Indian students at reservations from completing a successful transfer from their community college. Once students had transferred to a baccalaureate program at NMSU, the Bridge Program office became a trusted campus source of assistance for scheduling classes, organizing student study groups, arranging student loans, providing travel to local shopping areas, and resolving many independent living issues first encountered by American Indian students living off the reservation for the first time. To conclude, the Bridge Program appears to have been successful due to committed, long-term faculty mentors at the community colleges and at the four-year university, the intrinsic peer-support derived from the large size of each year’s number of American Indian students recruited into the Program, the availability of secure and long-term financial resources that allowed students to remain continuously matriculated during their baccalaureate degree studies, academic intervention programs such as supplemental instruction that taught transferred students survival and study skills for succeeding at a university, and persistent follow-up assistance in completing the transfer process from the community college to a university and subsequent support services thereafter. The value of each of these five factors was not fully appreciated by the Bridge Program director and faculty mentors at the inception of the Bridge Program in 1992. However, with continuous self-evaluation, the learning curve for improvement was relatively short, as the successes of this program can attest.

Acknowledgments The Bridges to the Future Program at New Mexico State University was funded by Public Health Service grant R25 GM048998 to G.D.K. from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, MORE Division. The author wishes to thank Vanessa Fischer and Denise Sanchez for two decades of dedicated service as lead program coordinators of the Bridge Program. He also thanks V.F. for assistance in the preparation of the figures presented in this chapter.

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