The Behavioral and Biomedical Science core (BaBSc): Bridges to Baccalaureate is a project of three of the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) - Kennedy King College (KKC), Malcolm X College (MXC), and Richard Daley College, (RDC) - an associate degree granting institution to transition to University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), a baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degree granting institution in Chicago. The partnership represents an innovative attempt to use experiences and infrastructure already in place at both CCC and UIC. It will involve identifying, recruiting, educating, mentoring, and supporting the scientific research interest of 60 (20 annually), 22 of whom are duplicated, Underrepresented Minority (URM) students from CCC to transfer to UIC and complete their degrees in behavioral and biomedical research disciplines. In 2002 the three colleges had a total of 51,808 enrollments, 86% were URM's and 395 (of which 302 were Blacks and Hispanics) completed degrees in behavioral and biomedical related areas. The collaboration is designed to target URM's who are majoring in the behavioral and natural sciences, including psychology, biology, chemistry, computer sciences and mathematics, for research involvement. Their involvement, especially Blacks and Latinos, in behavioral, biomedicine and biomedical research is very crucial to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People 2010 because their communities are more proportionately represented in mortality and morbidity data. Paradoxically, the number of minorities involved in scientific research, or work as scientists and engineers is very small because of many barriers. The BaBSc would ameliorate the barriers by: 1) creating a Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Core for a select pool of qualified URM's; 2) identifying and selecting qualified interested students from the BaBSc pool in to the Bridges to Baccalaureate; 3) ensuring the training of URM's and enable them to acquire competence in the application of computers for independent study and research engagement; 4) enhancing an Independent Study Course that would facilitate independent research interest of URM's with the assistance of faculty at UIC; 5) exposing URM's to opportunities and possibilities in behavioral and biomedical sciences through participation in relevant research seminars, conferences and interactions with scientists; and 6) providing Intensive Summer Research Opportunity Program including counseling, mentoring and retention services and ensure their transfer to a four year institution with a major in behavioral or biomedical sciences. The project will operate under well organized committees of committed 12 CCC and UIC faculty and administrators in order to see to its success. Selected students will be engaged in: extensive orientation, facilities tour; diagnostic testing, mentoring, website training, test taking strategies, intensive writing skills development, retention activities, leadership training, student-faculty activities, intensive summer research training, seminars both locally and nationally. The project will be rigorously evaluated in addition to using the Electronic Student Tracking Reporting (E-STAR) for the tracking of students. We expect Over 75% of students to transfer and pursue behavioral or biomedical disciplines.
