Bridges to the Baccalaureate at Florida A&M University - Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) served as baccalaureate institutions of origin for
approximately one quarter of African Americans who earned STEM and Engineering doctoral degrees from
2015-2019, yield more than 17% of bachelor’s degrees, and more than a quarter of all STEM baccalaureate
degrees earned by Black students. As Florida’s only public HBCU, Florida A&M University has a rich tradition in
cultivating African American students from diverse backgrounds with superior academic qualities. While HBCUs
have overperformed in doctoral degrees earned by their graduates, the dearth of underrepresented doctoral
degrees in the sciences remains a problem. This is in part due to underutilization of public Community Colleges.
The Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program at Florida A&M University (B2B) aims to provide
structured, evidence-based activities to prepare a diverse cohort of community college students to transfer to
and complete a bachelor's degree in biomedical research fields; stimulate interest among UR students across
the campuses of TCC and FAMU to pursue biomedical research-based terminal degrees; and increase the
number of UR students who hold leadership positions in STEM research enterprises. Through an intricately
designed program interwoven with social cognitive career theory and community cultural wealth, B2B
acknowledges and leverages students’ cultural capital, backgrounds and experiences, and their impact on self-
efficacy, science identity, career decision making, everyday actions, and outcomes. The B2B will recruit and
maintain 10 B2B trainees in year 1 and 5 in years 2-5 with a minimum 2.7 GPA, full-time enrollment in the
gateway science courses, and strong research career interest; establish a semi-structured Peer Mentoring
program where Year II B2B trainees are matched with FAMU NCI CaRE2 trainees, and YEAR I B2B trainees to
facilitate topic based and informal mentoring; and facilitate professional development of TCC faculty and
academic advisors to better align advisement with preparation for matriculation into biomedically-related
baccalaureate programs at FAMU. The B2B will provide faculty-mentored research experiences where B2B
trainees produce mini proposals for projects that serve as the basis for mentored research training and use
results from their authentic research experiences to present at regional symposia and national science
conferences. Career development activities, including academic success workshops, professional
development seminars, research seminars, structured and independent activities related to career exploration
in the biomedical sciences, and leadership development trainings will enhance the institutional culture of both
TCC and FAMU. This partnership will be further leveraged to implement an Annual Research Day at TCC
that features presentations from B2B trainees and other students involved in research at TCC and FAMU. Open
to the broader TCC and FAMU campus communities, Research Day will help facilitate learning about biomedical
research related careers and training opportunities.
