Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program - Binghamton University (BU) plans to continue the successful relationships with Monroe Community College
(MCC), Onondaga Community College (OCC) and Westchester Community College (WCC) in the Upstate
Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program. Our past R25 Bridges Program has under-represented (UR) student
transfer (93%) and baccalaureate degree completion rates (89%) that are much greater than the national
(31.5% transfer rate; 46% degree completion) and New York State degree completion rates (60.2% overall and
38% for UR). Our long-term success is based on a partnership that successfully prepares UR students to
participate in the biomedical educational and research enterprise. However, we will improve our success with
activities outlined in the following Aims: Aim 1 will focus on recruiting and engaging UR undergraduate
students with an interest in biomedical science research at our partner community colleges (CCs) and who are
interested in transferring to BU to obtain a 4-year biomedically-related science degree. Bridges Scholars at the
CCs will participate in specialized workshops focusing on scientific career choices, peer mentoring, and
community engagement. Scholars will also be introduced to online international scientific communities for
diverse scholars in their chosen disciplines to build their science identities. In addition, implementing
supplementary math and science skills development and CURE-based courses at our partner schools will be
supported to improve performance in those courses. Aim 2 builds upon scientific literacy to promote confidence
in scientific ability in early-stage UR transfer scholars that will foster persistence in biomedical science
education and encourage biomedical career choice. Incoming transfer Bridges Scholars to BU will engage in a
summer scientific boot camp, followed by rotations in research laboratories to promote an interest in rigorous
biomedical research. At BU, scholars will enroll in a Culture of Science course that will include instruction on
research ethics, scientific communication, and community outreach. Scholars will engage in meaningful
outreach activities to support their cultural identities and development as citizen scientists. The last step in Aim
3 will support advanced science education and professionalism to reinforce the proportion of Bridges Scholars
who obtain baccalaureate degrees in the biomedical sciences at BU. All Bridges transfer Scholars will
participate in intensive academic year and summer research experiences in state-of-the-art laboratories at BU
with research-active faculty mentors who have experience training diverse scholars. This level of research
engagement will enable scholars to develop novel independent research projects that can be presented at
national scientific conferences. These synergistic empirically-validated activities across the CCs and BU will
increase the success rate and preparedness of UR students for biomedical research careers.
