PROJECT SUMMARY
This is a resubmission application for a research education program to support
individuals from diverse backgrounds to pursue the study of bioengineering and a
career in research. The overall objective is to recruit talented students from the
Community College of Denver, a minority serving institution (MSI), into the
undergraduate Bioengineering program at the University of Colorado Denver, also a
MSI, and to provide these students with the skills necessary for postgraduate studies in
bioengineering, biomedical sciences, and medicine. The rationale for the proposed
research education program is that community college transfers are an important, but
often neglected, part of the pipeline of students with diverse backgrounds that enter
undergraduate bioengineering programs. In order to support this group of students we
will pursue the following specific aims: (1) a pre-transfer advising program on
academic, cultural, and financial issues to make for a successful transfer to a four-year
degree program, (2) a summer bridge program in which students earn credit towards
their degree and learn essential skills in design thinking and computational thinking
while being oriented into campus culture, (3) academic year activities that includes paid
engineering apprenticeships and a layered mentoring approach, (4) a summer research
experience in bioengineering at an academic medical center that includes skills
workshops and responsible conduct in research training, and (5) an honors and
leadership program that provides additional research experience and leadership training
in the junior and senior years as well as entry into a combined B.S./M.S. program. This
approach is innovative because it targets a unique population of students with diverse
backgrounds and will yield an educational research program that caters to their
strengths and needs. The proposed education program is significant because it will
provide both quantitative and qualitative data on how these approaches support science
identity, academic efficacy, scholarship, and matriculation into postgraduate programs.
If successful, this program could be expanded at CU Denver and replicated at other
institutions to support community college transfers in bioengineering and related fields.