The objectives for the Training and Mentoring Core are:
- To oversee the establishment, funding and operation of Coordinator
offices and programs on undergraduate campuses. The Director of
this Core will solicit plans for recruitment of prospective biomedical
researchers on the undergraduate campuses and offer direction for
development. He will also call for budgets and estimates of expenditures,
and approve these plans prior to disbursement of funds.
- To oversee the establishment, funding and operation of Training
and Mentoring satellite cores on the four central campuses. The
Director of this Core will contact appropriate researcher/trainers
on each of the four central campuses and arrange for activities which
will enhance recruiting efforts.
Administration: The Training and Mentoring Core is centered
on the K-State Campus. The Director, S. K. Chapes, 10% effort, is a
highly regarded and successful researcher as well as a strong mentor
and advisor. He has enjoyed continuous extramural funding throughout
his tenure of more than twenty-five years at K-State. His laboratory
presently consists of two postdocs, four graduate students, two undergraduates,
and two Research Assistants (all but one female). His responsibilities
as Associate Director of Biology include the stimulation of successful
extramural funding. He has chaired searches for seven new faculty within
the past five years. Dr. Chapes is also active in undergraduate instruction,
and annually teaches a required course in Genetics and participates
in the introductory Biology course. He also participates in graduate
education through instruction, service campus-wide on a number of graduate
committees, and involvement in interdepartmental graduate programs in
Genetics (Steering Committee) and Biochemistry. Relevant to this proposal,
he serves on campus advisory committees focused on the Biotechnology
Core Facility and on long-range planning for high-end computing. Dr.
Chapes was recently P.I. and Director of a four-year, $2 million program
funded by NSF EPSCoR and the State of Kansas to enhance research success
in developmental genetics. In this capacity he organized an annual symposium
and other meetings, and mentored and provided "seed money"
support to fourteen junior investigators on multiple research campuses.
This effort resulted in research funding, at a level many times the
initial investment, from the NIH and other sources, and aided in the
recruitment of new faculty members in the biomedical sciences who would
not otherwise have accepted positions at Kansas universities.
Nine Coordinators with strong records for research, training and mentoring
have been identified for the nine participant institutions. All have
committed to the success of this aspect of the K-BRIN. Biographical
Sketches for each are given in an earlier section of this proposal.
On the single campus that does not have undergraduates, KUMC, the Coordinator
will be J. Bast, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of
Graduate Education. On the three campuses that have both undergraduates
and graduates, the K-State Coordinator will be the Director, R. Chapes,
the KU-L Coordinator will be R. Hanzlik, and the W-State Coordinator
will be W. Hendry.
On undergraduate campuses, five outstanding individuals are participating.
These are D. Saunders (Emporia), M. Madden (Ft. Hays), G. Godfrey (Haskell
Indian Nations), V. Rider (Pittsburg) and J. Barton (Washburn). With
the exception of Dr. Godfrey, all were present for the Steering Committee
meeting and were strong contributors to the discussion held on January
8, 2001, at KUMC.
Development of the Training and Mentoring Core:
During the six month planning period, Dr. Chapes will work closely with
the campus Coordinators to develop a plan and budget for each. Appropriate
budget items are discussed below. Dr. Chapes has already solicited preliminary
plans and budget ideas from each unit. The end goal is to decide on
a training plan that will be most effective in the environment unique
to each campus. On the other hand, each Coordinator will potentially
benefit from ideas developed on other campuses as well. Thus, Dr. Chapes
will foster a periodic exchange of ideas and experiences among the campuses
via the initiation of an electronic K-BRIN Training and Mentoring Newsletter
to which each Coordinator will contribute. During the second six months
and subsequent funding periods, the Newsletter will continue on a bimonthly
basis, with each Coordinator sharing experiences and accomplishments
from their program. Such solicitation of items for the Newsletter will
serve indirectly as a means to assess the outcome of support and to
reinforce the commitment of the Coordinators to the program. Near the
end of the first and second years, Coordinators will submit a brief
annual report and revised budget to serve as a basis for negotiating
further support. We expect only positive accomplishments for this enthusiastic
and talented group of faculty, but it will be important to assure that
funding results in appropriate training and mentoring efforts.
A model for recruiting on graduate campuses developed at K-State.
Recent activities in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University
can serve as a model for undergraduate student recruitment and mentoring
that can be adapted for use in the context of this program and on the
participating campuses. These activities were initiated by faculty members
Drs. Beth Montelone and Michael Herman. Their goal was to better prepare
students interested in biomedical research for graduate school. At the
beginning of the 99/00 academic year, they worked with the Biology Office
of Undergraduate Studies to identify students performing biological
research outside of the area of ecology. These students were ascertained
first because they were doing research under the auspices of a grant
from the HHMI and/or were enrolled for formal credit for undergraduate
research. Second, relevant faculty members were contacted to identify
additional students. A list-serve of approximately 50 students was established,
and they and relevant faculty were invited to an orientation meeting
at which pizza and drinks were provided. Thereafter, the group met on
an approximately monthly basis, with a ca. 60-70% rate of participation.
(Some students oriented toward medical school were active in alternative
mentoring and peer groups.) The main thrust of early meetings was an
interactive discussion of the graduate school application process, and
of realities and expectations of graduate students. Later activities
also involved meetings with seminar visitors from other mid-West universities.
A poster session was also organized to give the students an opportunity
to present the research problems and accomplishments. There was no formal
assessment of the efficacy of this program, and the outcome with respect
to individuals participating was not evaluated. However, in Biology
as a whole at least fifteen students in that class were accepted into
graduate school and twice that number into health-related professional
schools. It is highly likely that this effort had a positive impact.
The program is continuing this year.
Modifications of the K-State plan for the K-BRIN. The
approaches just described will be modified to accommodate the goals
of this K-BRIN program. On each campus, the program Coordinator will
assume the responsibility of organizing recruitment and mentoring activities.
It will be important to identify students potentially interested in
biomedically-relevant research at an earlier stage in their studies,
and to make them aware of graduate school and career opportunities.
In addition to mentoring with respect to graduate It will be important
to identify students potentially interested in biomedically-relevant
research at an earlier stage in their studies, and to make them aware
of graduate school and career opportunities. In addition to mentoring
with respect to graduate school admission, whenever possible the students
will be encouraged to participate in research experiences. At the major
institutions the students will often have the opportunity to do so during
the academic year as well as the summer. While the same approach may
be possible at the undergraduate institutions, faculty teaching loads
may well constrain on-campus research experiences to the summer period.
We present elsewhere details of the proposed summer research workshops,
and of the utilization of the TeleResearch system and Bioinformatics
core facility to provide additional resources to undergraduates and
their mentors on all campuses. The functions of the campus Coordinators
and their colleagues will be supplemented by two additional intercampus
activities. Firstly, faculty members from each of the major institutions
will visit the undergraduate institutions annually. During these visits,
these individuals will present research seminars and interact with the
students and their mentors. Modest expenses for travel by car and, if
necessary, an overnight stay will be covered. Secondly, each year two
of the major institutions will hold weekend workshops for students from
the undergraduate institutions. These workshops will include overviews
of relevant research programs, campus tours including laboratories and
research facilities, and interactions with graduate students. Dr. Chapes
will organize these interactions in cooperation with active participants
on all four graduate campuses.
Since UKMC has no undergraduate instruction, their utilization of Training
and Mentoring resources will differ somewhat from the other institutions,
and will be discussed below.
Graduate Student Recruitment Activities:
There is a consensus among the Kansas graduate institutions that more
effective approaches to attract quality graduate students are sorely
needed. Yet, funding for graduate student recruitment is often difficult
to identify. In addition to the efforts described above and directed
towards identifying qualified Kansas undergraduate students and introducing
them in biomedical research, each of the four Ph.D.-granting institutions
will have additional funding to aid in their recruiting efforts.
KUMC has already developed a plan that can serve as a model for the
other relevant institutions. Two goals are to buttress the recruiting
efforts of the current training program in biomedical research directed
by M. Sarras and strengthen the current MD/PhD program directed by J.
Bast, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. Through coordination with
the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biomedical Science (IGPBS)
director, the funds provided by the K-BRIN grant will be utilized to
expand the program's recruitment efforts. The funds will be used in
a number of ways to include: (1) travel funds for recruitment talks
to regional schools, (2) development of research interactions with faculty
at regional undergraduate schools with the aim of developing an active
faculty contact at these schools who will be able to identify potential
students, and (3) expansion of the number of students that can be brought
in for the IGPBS recruitment weekends that occur in February and mid-March
of each year. KUMC will utilize the $30,000 per year allotted for Training
and Mentoring activities in these ways.
KU-L, K-State, and W-State also each have $15,000 per year allotted
to graduate recruitment efforts, and will develop approaches similar
to those just described. At K-State, a group of junior faculty have
expressed special interest in graduate student recruitment, and wish
to actively participate in relevant activities. Some of these individuals
have been included among participating K-State faculty even though they
do not currently enjoy NIH funding. As in other aspects of this Core,
recruitment plans and budgets will be negotiated with and approved by
the Director.
Menu of possible expenditures and criteria for approval of Coordinator
budgets:
As noted above, budgets for Training and Mentoring Satellite Cores at
each of the participating institutions will vary depending on optimal
utilization of funds at each site. However, budgets will be assembled
from a list of appropriate expenditures. Preliminary plans have been
submitted by many of the undergraduate institutions to be involved.
All argue strongly for the need to provide scholarships for undergraduate
students participating in research projects. Most students at these
universities must work to support their education, and if we are to
get them involved and excited about biomedical research we must provide
them with funding which will allow them to do so without endangering
their education per se. Such student support will be awarded on a competitive
basis. Given the nature of research at these universities, it will often
be necessary to provide the participating laboratories with some support
for supplies and small equipment items. It will be important that any
equipment be available on a shared basis to all appropriate laboratories.
Faculty members are on nine-month appointments at these institutions,
and faculty summer salary support to allow undergraduate research training
during this period and/or to accumulate results which could serve to
support applications for extramural funding would also be appropriate.
Undergraduate travel to regional meetings is another possible utilization
of funds. Various administrative expenses will be necessary at all sites,
possibly including partial salary support for the Coordinator, office
supplies and expenses, funds to support student meetings and related
activities, etc. Although the emphasis of this core will be on undergraduate
student recruitment, it is also possible that funding could be utilized
to support the participation of Masters students with an ascertained
commitment to pursue doctoral studies in biomedical research. Similar
activities at the doctorate-granting institutions which train undergraduates
would also be appropriate. As discussed earlier, additional funds will
be available at all doctorate-granting universities for graduate student
recruitment and related activities.
It will be the role of the Director to assess whether each submitted
budget is designed to effectively utilize available funds at each institution.
With respect to the portion of the program directed towards undergraduate
students, the most important criteria will be: 1) the anticipated effectiveness
of plans to introduce students to the nature and potential of a biomedical
research career, and to aid in the utilization of the interactive resources
to be made available by the K-BRIN program; and 2) the potential for
involving students in biomedically-relevant research. Funding and budget
allocation in future years will be
KUMC: KUMC is a somewhat special case because this institution does
not have an undergraduate student population. At KUMC, the two goals
are to buttress the recruiting efforts of the current training program
in biomedical research directed by M. Sarras and strengthen the current
MD/PhD program directed by J. Bast, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies
in the Department of Graduate Studies. Through coordination with the
IGPBS program director, the funds provided by the K-BRIN grant will
be utilized to expand the program's recruitment efforts. The funds will
be used in a number of ways to include: (1) travel funds for recruitment
talks to regional schools, (2) development of research interactions
with faculty at regional undergraduate schools with the aim of developing
an active faculty contact at these schools who will be able to identify
potential students, and (3) expansion of the number of students that
can be brought in for the IGPBS recruitment weekends that occur in February
and mid March of each year. The KUMC Research and Training faculty are
taken from our basic science faculty. These researcher/trainers will
participate in the Woods Hole-like training program and will also serve
as host laboratories for undergraduate summer training experiences.
For the MD/PhD program, the website established by a current second
year MD/PhD student, R. Gill (http://www2.kumc.edu/gsr/mdphd)
will be expanded to include all application materials so that initial
consideration of an applicant's credentials can be conducted following
an on-line submission. Recruiting efforts developed for the medical
school will include informational talks and brochures in outreach efforts
by Dr. Bast and current MD/PhD students. These are expected to include
special visits to the KUMC campus with conversations and discussions
on potential research themes.
|
