A Sophomore Immersion in Research and Academics (SIPRA) program was implemented in an Historically Black College & University to promote underrepresented minority (URM) student learning in STEM. The overarching goals for SIPRA are to expand the pool of underrepresented students who remain in the biomedical/behavioral sciences pipeline through a PhD, to increase undergraduate and graduate students’ skills, preparation, and commitment to conduct research, and  to improve undergraduate and graduate students’ competitiveness for entering and completing PhD level programs in the biomedical/behavioral sciences. SIPRA is a 6-week program for rising sophomore biology, chemistry and psychology majors. A total of 116 students (86 females and 30 males) and 22 faculty research mentors have participated in the SIPRA program between 2009 and 2017. Students completed Individual Development Plan in one-on-one sessions that were held at the start of the program. Students received skills development to support their preparation to graduate school entrance exams. SIPRA participants participated in preparatory and success markers courses to gain exposure to the content of courses which they will enroll in for the subsequent fall semester. The initiatives provided hands-on research experience and presented opportunities for students to present their research findings at research meetings and conferences. SIPRA also provided seminar presentations on Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative Training, responsible conduct of research, consideration of ethical issues, laboratory safety,  transition from undergraduate to graduate degree programs, scientific writing,record  keeping, and literature searching. Over 85% of SIPRA participants completed their success marker STEM courses without needing to repeat courses, improving the retention and graduation rates of URM in STEM. Overall, the SIPRA program provided hands-on research experience for 116 of URM students, these efforts helped students to develop collaboration and team-building skills, enhanced their critical thinking, problem solving, leadership, and communication skills. The SIPRA program also provided mentoring and research advisory opportunities for senior students, master graduate students, and postdoctoral associates, thereby improving their leadership skills. SIPRA is model that if scaled up could improve university retention broaden participation in STEM on a wider scale.

Promoting undergraduate research at an HBCU: Sophomore immersion in research and academics program

256th National Meeting (2018)

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