Outreach:

The Center will be deeply integrated in the social, educational, and research fabric of NMSU and of local high schools and community colleges, and it will share their commitment to serve a diverse population of students and researchers. The PIs have actively worked towards the creation of an academic environment which is sensitive to the issues of students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds. The PIs have been active in developing NMSU as a model institution for training Native Americans and Hispanics in CS and Biology. Existing efforts include: Bridge in biomedical sciences—introduces Native Americans to careers in biomedical sciences; NSF NA-CS program—prepares Native American students for degrees in CS; MBRS-RISE program— for minority students seeking degrees in biomedical sciences; NM-AGEP, NM-AMP, and ADVANCE programs. The Center will build on these efforts to promote participation of a diverse student and research population in BCB. Existing programs have committed their support to the Center.

Recruitment Efforts: The Center will follow a pro-active recruiting plan targeting minority and female students. New Mexico is a state with a high population of Native and Hispanic Americans: 51.7% of the population is of ethnic minority heritage (of these 40% are Hispanic and 9.1% Native American). This gives NMSU a special opportunity to recruit excellent students from a large pool of minority students. In this program we will aggressively target high-school senior and college level students—directly through events in local high schools, bridge and summer programs, and coordinated curriculum and study plans—and indirectly via training and collaborations with educators at tribal schools and other institutions with large minority presence. Solid ties with various Minority and Tribal schools have already been developed. Recruitment efforts will include continuous interactions with faculty in schools with a significant minority population and aggressive advertising (the PIs already perform regular visits to local high schools and tribal colleges). The Center will also develop coordinated science programs with cooperating schools, including training of science teachers from these schools, via distance education programs and summer institutes, and development of coordinated curricula (e.g., offering prerequisite CS and biology courses at the cooperating high schools and colleges). These activities will bridge with existing efforts on campus (e.g., Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN)). These efforts will lead to the development of a more nurturing environment and a pathway to smooth entrance of students into biology and CS programs at NMSU, and their involvement in activities connected to the Center. Students will also be recruited from among the large minority population at NMSU. Many students participating in these activities will be rewarded with stipends and academic credits. Similar recruitment efforts will be applied to improve participation of women in BCB. NMSU has launched a major effort in this direction, with the support of an ADVANCE grant, and Drs. He, O’Connell, Serrano, and others are active participants of this initiative. The Center will promote women’s participation through targeted recruitment, mentoring, and programs to highlight the opportunities for women in STEM (e.g., confidence building courses) . To summarize, the main activities employed to improve recruitment of students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds are: (a) summer and bridge programs for high-school and college students; (b) training 5 programs for high-school and college teachers; (c) advertising and targeted recruitment of students and scientists; (d) coordinated educational programs with minority schools; (e) seminars and awareness efforts.

Retention Efforts: The Center will develop and utilize an integrated effort to enhance retention of students and scientists from under-represented backgrounds . It will build on the rich set of retention activities that are provided to the general NMSU student population as well as targeted efforts developed to address the needs of students in BCB. The Center will extend the efforts implemented by the CS team as part of the pathways system, based on the development of alternative pathways through the educational program, each providing a different degree of assistance and mentoring based on student preparation and progress. The system will be extended to encompass Center supported educational activities. Various NMSU programs have expressed enthusiasm and committed their support to help the Center in recruitment and retention of students and researchers—including the American Indian and the Chicano Programs, NM-AGEP program, NMSU MARC and RISE programs, and NMSU ADVANCE program.