The UTMB Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences proposes a Partnering Program to increase the number of underserved minority student who enroll and graduate with a PhD. The Program partners with 6 institutions, 4 in Texas and 2 in Louisiana whose combined student body is over 36,000 undergraduates, 70 percent of whom are underserved minority students. The Program represents a response to the increased need for diversity in the biomedical research workforce of the state and the nation. The Program utilizes existing GSBS special recruitment strategies, including the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) and the annual Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). Expanded participation of students from partnering schools in the URS as special guests and in SURP as summer researchers is proposed. Additional key features of the Program include: 1) Entry of partner school undergraduates into the GSBS through a new Generic Admission Program; 2) Implementation of a flexible, optional Transition Track first year curriculum which provides additional preparation and special study skills for students who may need them; 3) Close individual mentoring to maximize opportunities for successful retention and completion of the PhD; and 4) Career development programs and activities to give students personal enrichment skills that prepare them to be competitive for subsequent postdoctoral training and eventual employment. The Program also offers collaborative interactions between partnering school faculty and GSBS faculty that will benefit and enrich both. These include: 1) Additional participation of partner faculty in the URS; 2) Sabbatical research opportunities at UTMB for partner faculty; 3) Visits by the GSBS Program core faculty to partner schools to give research seminars, be guest teachers, and dialog with students about the opportunities biomedical research presents as a career option. Extensive outcomes analysis and tracking of students from initial contact to eventual employment will be used to monitor success of the Program.
