Project Aims and Objectives. Project IMPART (Improving Minority Professional's Access to Research Tracks) is a collaborative project between the Departments of Nursing at Thomas Jefferson University and the Community College of Philadelphia. It is responsive to the need to recruit and educate minority students for careers in nursing research. The purpose of Project IMPART is to provide an innovative research-based program for minority students and to prepare a qualified cadre of nurses to work with this nations' culturally and ethnically diverse population. The ultimate goal is to increase minorities' representation in higher levels of teaching, research, and practice within the profession of nursing. Specific program objectives are to 1) identify, attract, motivate and recruit minority nursing students to participate in a program to enhance interest in nursing research careers; 2) provide academic coursework in critical thinking, statistics and research and career supportive services to program participants in order to enhance their success in achieving project goals; 3) implement a comprehensive research experience designed to provide the participants with the beginning skills necessary for a career in nursing research; 4) facilitate the entry of minority graduates from an ADN program into a BSN program in nursing; 5) enhance the faculty's awareness of minority students' needs from both an educational perspective as well as their impact on the diversity of the nursing work force; and 6) design a program evaluation plan and to initiate a longitudinal study of program participants. All of these goals are consistent with the goals established by Healthy People 2010 in that IMPART will produce a cadre of individuals who are highly socialized professionally and intellectually to address the issues of minority health care and equity in access to quality health care services. The project's core is the research assistantship that emphasizes mentoring by academicians and clinicians in nursing and health-related fields. The desired outcome is the facilitated transition of Project IMPART graduates into a baccalaureate completion program for registered nurses and, ultimately, into a graduate program. Outcomes achieved to date document the project's success in achieving these outcomes and recognition for promoting educational mobility among students who otherwise might never have realized their potential.
