Dr. Kathleen Eastwood will host a meeting of the directors of the Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites. The meeting will be held April 25-26, 2005 in Flagstaff, Arizona, on the campus of Northern Arizona University, one of the AST REU sites. The intellectual merit of the meeting rests with the bringing together of site directors, current and new, to discuss successes and shortcomings in their own REU programs, and to establish best practices for future REU activities.
A major goal of the program is to foster ideas to achieve better success in recruiting underrepresented students. Other topics include dealing with difficult mentors and students, and handling potential harassment issues. The discussion of these issues will help broaden the impact of the AST REU portfolio, by improving the overall quality of the program, making it more attractive to a broader range of students.
