Recognizing the importance of recruiting and retaining underrepresented minorities in the health sciences, the University of Illinois of Chicago and the College of Nursing have a long history of participating in programmatic initiatives for minority youth that the proposed Minority Initiative in Research Careers (MIRC) builds on. The overall objectives of the proposed program MIRC is to build on existing programs of the College to provide research experiences for minority high school students and teachers.
Specific Aims i nclude: a) provide intensive summer research apprenticeships for high school students and teachers, b) provide ongoing educational counseling and guidance for student participants, c) strengthen ties with participating high schools by offering special science programs and seminars to students and faculty, and d) develop a core group of high school science teachers and College of Nursing mentors for developing new, discovery based science programs. The program will include a combination of direct research activities for students and teachers (e.g., apprenticeship activities, seminars, research reporting), career planning/development activities for students (e.g., counseling, field trips, individual consultation) and curriculum enrichment activities for teachers. Students, teachers and faculty mentors also will participate in weekly """"""""research brown bags"""""""". The purpose of these informal sessions will be to discuss apprentices' research experiences. In addition, all apprentices will participate in a formal seminar on """"""""Research Practices and Careers"""""""". Seminar topics will include ethical issues in research on human and animal subjects, good laboratory practices, academic integrity and scientific misconduct, and planning for a research career. A final """"""""Research Day"""""""" program will be planned for the last week of the summer session during which apprentices will do a presentation of the research in which they have engaged. A variety of activities are proposed for maintaining contacts with students and teachers throughout the school year including presentations to high school science classes and a curriculum development group for teachers. Recruitment efforts for MIRC will build on already established ties with high schools in the Chicago area and will be monitored by a Steering Committee especially established for the MIRC program. The Steering Committee also will oversee the ongoing evaluation of MIRC. Evaluation will focus on experiences and outcomes for individual students and teachers as well as the program as a whole.
