Bridges to Baccalaureate Research Training Program at The University of Memphis - The overall goal of the Bridges to Baccalaureate Research Training Program at University of Memphis is to prepare highly trained biomedical scientists and increase the number of individuals entering the biomedical research workforce. This proposed project will be a partnership program between the largest community college and four-year institution serving southwest Tennessee, namely Southwest Tennessee Community College (STCC) and The University of Memphis (UofM). The short-term goal of this Bridges program is to enhance the knowledge, skills, values, identity, and self-efficacy as research scientists of STCC students in the biomedical sciences within a community of researchers. The intermediate goal is to inspire matriculation and persistence in biomedical science-related undergraduate programs at STCC, resulting in an increase in the number of students that transfer from STCC to UofM and complete the baccalaureate degree in the biomedical sciences. The specific aims of this Bridges proposal are to (1) admit at least 3 students per year in biomedical sciences-related degree programs at STCC into the Bridges program, (2) retain at least 80% of Bridges students for successful matriculation to UofM on a 3-year rolling basis, and (3) assist transferred Bridges students to persist to bachelor’s degree completion each year. New training strategies as well as plans for expansion and/or enhancement of existing training and educational programs at both STCC and UofM have been designed to attain our goals. The training and educational programs include curriculum enhancements for supplemental instruction at STCC, embedding Bridges trainees in a STEM peer mentoring program for undergraduate researchers at UofM, expanding continuous research experiences at UofM, and expanding faculty research mentorship training at UofM. The expected outcomes of this planned training program are an increase the 5-year average number of STCC students matriculating to UofM and completing the baccalaureate degree in a STEM discipline, as well as an increase in the number of STEM graduates who successfully matriculate into doctoral degree programs in STEM disciplines and/or enter the biomedical research workforce.
