1 Program Abstract 2 Bridging Arizona Native American Students to Bachelor?s Degrees program, the parent award of this proposed 3 supplement, has provided insights into the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) 2-year students 4 since its inception in 2012. The parent program is designed to increase the number of AI/AN students from 5 federally recognized tribes completing baccalaureate degrees in the biomedical and behavioral sciences at 6 Northern Arizona University (NAU) by providing a unique transition program for students originating from 7 Coconino Community College (CCC) that is academically sound, highly engaging and seamless. The 8 supplement will be collaboratively develop curricular programming focused on research with AI/AN 9 populations. Coursework will cover health disparities among tribal nations, conducting research among tribal 10 nations, research methods, scientific writing, detailed Individual Development Plans (IDP) and Responsible 11 Conduct of Research (RCR) training.
We aim to track both process and learning outcomes by a) assessing 12 participation and interaction with the course content by the participants in the online system through metrics 13 automatically assessed (for example, frequency of use and duration) and collecting qualitative feedback on 14 each course module, and b) assessing knowledge gain by administering pre-and post-knowledge assessments 15 for each module. The proposed supplement addresses an urgent need to provide successful research and 16 career development activities and resources in a standard, online curriculum. This curriculum would be 17 focused on career transitions and planning, best mentorship practices, cultural sensitivity, AI/AN role model 18 activities in the context of AI/AN health disparities research. The course will build on previously used curricular 19 programming within Bridges to Baccalaureate and the Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention U54 20 funded cancer disparities curriculum focused on AI/AN students from the Baccalaureate to Doctoral levels. 21 Recent challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic have provided critical needs for our AI/AN students. Most of 22 our participants are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, which has been found to have the highest 23 incidence of COVID-19 per capita in the United States and remains on regular strict lockdowns since March 24 2020. This has presented our program with a tremendous need to provide effective programming for our 25 students in a remote environment as well as provide them with equipment like laptops and remote hotspots to 26 enhance internet access in rural areas. This pandemic has motivated indigenous students to engage in 27 biomedical or health science careers. This curriculum will provide a sustainable and resource for future AI/AN 28 Bridges students and their mentors that can be taught in remote and face-to-face settings and be adapted to 29 the needs of our students. 30
Program Narrative The proposed supplement will provide expanded course content for the parent award, Bridging Arizona Native American Students to Bachelor?s Degrees program. The curriculum will be developed to deliver virtually and will be drawn from multiple institutional, regional and tribal partners, based on best-practices for working with American Indian/Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) students. Proposed modules include 1) AI/AN health disparities, particularly in our region; 2) formal research methods training including research with tribal nations; 3) exposure to AI/AN role models at each successive career level; and 4) career development activities focused on successful transitions to 4-year programs and general career planning.
| Trotter 2nd, Robert T; Laurila, Kelly; Alberts, David et al. (2015) A diagnostic evaluation model for complex research partnerships with community engagement: the partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention (NACP) model. Eval Program Plann 48:10-20 |
| Wilson, Janice; Young, Ashley; Civitello, Edgar R et al. (2014) Analysis of heat-labile sites generated by reactions of depleted uranium and ascorbate in plasmid DNA. J Biol Inorg Chem 19:45-57 |
