Three regional institutions and the Rio Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico System will improve the current transfer program in a manner which will augment the number of underrepresented minorities who continue graduate studies in the biomedical sciences. The three participating regional institutions; Bayamon and Ponce Technological University Colleges and the Carolina Regional College do not offer baccalaureate degrees in Biology or Chemistry and many of their students transfer to the Rio Piedras in order to complete their degrees. Although about 70% of these science transfer students complete a B.S. degree at Rio Piedras, more than 30% encounter problems in upper level courses and settle for degrees in general science. In addition, very few of these transfer students continue graduate studies. The Transition to Research Careers (TRC) project proposes to improve this situation by implementing the following program for transfer students: 1. Assuring that science transfer students cover the same material in basic courses as their Rio Piedras counterparts. This will be accomplished through a tutorial program in Chemistry and Mathematics, which will include problem solving of material offered at Rio Piedras and by establishing better coordination of science courses between the Rio Piedras Campus and the two year programs. 2. Increasing the exposure to scientific research of students at the regional institutions. This will include a summer workshop with a laboratory experience for 24 rising sophomores and a summer research experience at Rio Piedras for two science faculty from the regional institutions in order to establish collaborative efforts between faculty at both components. 3. To provide thorough undergraduate research experiences at Rio Piedras to those students selected into the TRC Program. Each year 12 prospective transfer students will enter the program. These will participate in intramural research projects from June 1 through May 30. During the following summer they will participate in extramural projects at Stateside institutions. During their senior year they continue their intramural projects either with TRC or with funding from other programs. The immediate goal of this program will be to increase the number of transfer students from these three colleges who opt for research careers, however, its other goals include the implementation of similar programs at other institutions within the U.P.R.-System, the reinforcement of science education in this system and ultimately an increase in the number of graduates who are both capable and inclined toward the pursuit of careers in biomedical research.
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| Betancourt-Pérez, Rosa; Olivera, Luis Javier; Rodríguez, Julio E (2010) Assessment of Organic Chemistry Students' Knowledge of Resonance-Related Structures. J Chem Educ 87:547-551 |
