California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) proposes to build upon its experience with its minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program to create a Minority Student Development (MSD) Program. Our objective is to increase the number of underrepresented ethnic minority sciences students choosing careers in biomedical research. The approach is to provide the students with employment as researchers, addressing real research problems under the guidance of experienced faculty research mentors. We propose to further develop student research success through implementation of a series of workshops covering various aspects of scientific methods and issues. The Vice-President for Academic Affairs, the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the chairs of the participating departments have committed funds to support the MSD Program by providing faculty release time and support for an MSD tutorial program. Assessment and evaluation will be an integral aspect of our MSD Program. We will use the instruments being developed in our Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program. We have begun a summative evaluation of the difference MBRS has made with our students. The results are that 86 percent of our MBRS participants have graduated, that 43 percent have gone on to graduate programs, and that their GPA is significantly greater than those of the control groups. Use of the SAS Windows Multimedia Facility will allow electronic portfolios of student work to be maintained, in part for use in evaluation.
| Gharakhanian, Editte; Munoz, Luz; Mayorca, Luz (2003) The simian virus 40 minor structural protein Vp3, but not Vp2, is essential for infectious virion formation. J Gen Virol 84:2111-6 |
