In response to the Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) RFA-MD-05-004, we propose UDC's goal is to build the research capacity and capabilities of its nursing and allied health faculty and undergraduate students. This will be accomplished through a collaborative effort with HU that will emphasize structured training, mentoring, and research partnerships with experienced researchers, and enhancing research activities through """"""""hands-on"""""""" experience in proposal development and submission for funding. In addition, the project aims to establish an environment for on-going partnerships in research activities that focus on health disparities in minority populations. By the end of the project period, the following objectives will be accomplished :1. Identify and prepare 10 UDC tenure track faculty from the Department of Nursing and Allied Health to conduct independent research.2. Identify and mentor 4 undergraduate students in nursing and allied health who demonstrate promise for establishing a career path as researchers in health disparities.3. Promote a research culture at UDC through a series of ongoing enrichment activities for faculty and students. 4. Infuse research concepts and methods across the curriculum for nursing and allied health applicable for elimination of health disparities.5. Build an academic research infrastructure that supports cutting edge, innovative instruction and research related to the elimination of health disparities. The evaluation model is a three pronged approach: (1) goals-based evaluation to assess the extent to which the project goals and objectives were met; (2) process-based evaluation which will assess how the program operates, its effectiveness-identify strengths and weaknesses;(3)outcomes-based evaluation which will identify benefits to client in qualitative and quantitative measures e.g. participant's enhanced knowledge, perceptions, and satisfaction about the project. Data collection will be an ongoing part of the evaluation process baseline, outcome, completion and program data elements. Data collection procedures include: surveys, interviews, journals, and focus groups. ? ?
