Finding Partners

Community College Finding Partners Using Research Opportunities to Build Lasting Relationships With Faculty and Students Joshua B. Halpern Howard University/Johns Hopkins University/Prince George’s CC Partnership for Research and Education in Materials Howard University, Washington DC jhalpern@howard.edu My Partners: Dick Fahey, NASA/GSFC, Helen deClercq, Howard, Scott Sinex and Scott Johnson, PGCC, Paul Sabila Gallaudet, University Sean Jones and Tom Rieker, NSF 1

This talk grows out of • Involvement with educational programs • Director NASA/DC Space Grant Consortium 1991-96 • Associate Director since 1996 • Ran NASA/GSFC faculty fellowship program 1995-2007 • Director, NSF PREM involving HU/JHU/PGCC since 2006 • Invitation by Sean Jones, NSF 2

Research with Undergraduates The letter you don’t want And the one you want I am writing on behalf of Steve Student. Steve has been working in my lab for about a year. He has taken on major responsibilities for development of our project and has demonstrated a remarkable capability to work equally well with abstract concepts as well as practical devices. Steve is absolutely tops--I am sure there is no better applicant. I’ve worked with many students in my laboratory and Steve is by far the best. He is an excellent student, as evidenced by his grades and a very quick learner in the lab. He works independently, without prodding, but is not at all reluctant to seek assistance when needed. But, of course, just as in the fable of the tortoise and the hare, talent alone is insufficient, hard work and persistence are required as well and Steve is a very persistent and very hard worker. By the way, I’m enclosing the galley proofs of the paper Steve, you and I wrote and will appear in Science next week. I am writing on behalf of Steve Student. I understand that Steve is applying for entry to the Southern North Dakota Medical School at Hoople Steve was a student in my general chemistry course three years ago. Of the 164 students in the class he received the sixth highest grade. I can see this in my marking book This is quite good. It was a really hard course I remember talking with Steve a few times and he impressed me as a well mannered and well spoken young man. I think. In any case, I am sure he will do well at your school and am happy to recommend him to you. 3

I can show you one of the good ones From one of my PREM colleagues at Johns Hopkins: In terms of the “transfer student” issue, I am also sure that the experience of one of our students, who came from a community college, was the difference-maker in giving him the confidence to apply to top research universities to complete his Bachelor’s degree. He had offers of admission from at least two such schools, and selected one after being offered a full scholarship. To have reached this level of achievement, including likely co-authorship on two manuscripts now in preparation, from a community college level of preparation is simply astounding. 4

And there are benefits to the R1 One other benefit to my own group that I should mention: one of the postdoc mentors is now applying for academic positions, and has obtained an instructor position at a local college as a steppingstone. I am confident that his experience in mentoring diverse students is serving him well in this new role, and is a highly positive. The right community college, under-represented minority or deaf students in an R1 REU, or a graduate program can change attitudes. Selection and preparation are important. 5

How do we convince the R1 faculty The right community college, under-represented minority or deaf students in an R1 REU, or a graduate program can change attitudes. Selection and preparation are important. We need to change the focus and structure of REU programs PREM can play an important role We have to be realistic about ourselves and our students 6

Benefits of REUs and PREMs • Attract students to graduate schools • Increasingly attract undergraduates from CCs • Build bridges between institution • Change attitudes • Chemistry is all about getting lucky..." -Robert Curl but you can’t get lucky without being there • URMs, Community college and deaf students are usually not there 7

Programs This talk is about programs I have designed which show how research can be used to impact STEM students from CCs and NRHUs,under-represented minorities, deaf students. . . An REU program for CC students A Faculty and Student Team (FaST) program @ GSFC A partnership joining a CC (PGCC), an HBCU (Howard) and a research institution (JHU) And how Gallaudet University joined the partnership 8

Programs The emphasis is on the process, not the outcomes, Finding partners Giving them responsibility Building the program with them Always moving forward. 9

Research Intensive Universities • Primary focus on research • Prepares the next generation of faculty • High levels of financial, technical and administrative support • Faculty grants support students & postdocs • Faculty have strong external links within their fields • Faculty are involved in research management and policy at the national level 10

Non-Research Habituated Universities (NRHU) and CCs • Primary focus on teaching (3+3 and more) • High level of interaction with undergraduates • Low level of financial, technical and administrative support • Faculty are isolated within their fields • Few opportunities for scholarly work 11

Observations • Students move, faculty remain • Students must be prepared • Improving students requires faculty collaboration on both sides • Almost all faculty in all higher educational institutions share a common graduate school experience • Some faculty are entrepreneurial, others are not • Some faculty are flexible, others are not 12

Basic Principles • Finding partners is key • Requires humility, time and patience • Not everyone is interested • A long term commitment • Formative process • Listen to and “borrow” from others 13

Transferring Right now many state school have more CC transfersthan entering freshman in a year National Transfer Institute http://transferinstitute.unt.edu/ • How do we help students succeed • Moving from an HBCU, MSI, CC is hard • You arrive in a very different place • You don’t know the faculty • The faculty does not know you • Faculty and other students often expect you to fail 14

Knowledge • CC/NRHUs students need to know • What is expected • What resources are available • Research involvement helps • Experience of other places helps • Do not underestimate the thrills and challenges of living in a dorm 15

Remember that student? To have reached this level of achievement, including likely co-authorship on two manuscripts now in preparation, from a community college level of preparation is simply astounding. When this student came to Howard in 2009 before going to Hopkins in 2010, he was having difficulty with calculus. He was told in no uncertain terms that someone as capable as he obviously was should ace the course, and he was offered a helping hand from Howard faculty and students. Need for PREM/Intermediate pumping stations in the pipeline Need for partnerships with CCs MSIs, NRHUs 16

A CC oriented REU program • Helen deClercq PI – Early 2000s • 10 students from 5 Maryland CCs • We tried to contact a number of CCs • Previous informal contacts at some • Not successful in finding partners everywhere • Find entrepreneurial partners 17

Partnership • Must give partners a stake • We provided project descriptions • CC faculty chose the students • Discussion btw partners after the summer • Relieved us of having to advertise and evaluate applications • Howard undergrads/grad students were mentors • Small amt of academic year funding • Built continuity 18

Simple ideas • Stressed simple ideas daily • Mathematics tutorial • Introduction to lab safety, library, lit searching, etc. • End of summer reports • Students shared a common office • Importance of first term after transfer • Constructing their schedule • Study groups • What to expect of professors 19

Patrick Ymele-Leki • Montgomery College, 2002 • Summer 2001, Howard REU • BA UMBC, 2004 • PhD UMBC, 2009 • Research Fellow, Environmental Microbiology, Harvard Clinical and Translational Sciences Center • Acosta MA, Ymele-Leki P, Kostov YV, Leach JB. Fluorescent microparticles for sensing cell microenvironment oxygen levels within 3D scaffolds. Biomaterials. 2009 Jun; 30(17):3068-74 • George NP, Ymele-Leki P, Konstantopoulos K, Ross JM. Differential binding of biofilm-derived and suspension-grown Staphylococcus aureus to immobilized platelets in shear flow. J Infect Dis. 2009 Mar 1; 199(5):633-40 • Ymele-Leki P, Ross JM. Erosion from Staphylococcus aureus biofilms grown under physiologically relevant fluid shear forces yields bacterial cells with reduced avidity to collagen. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Mar; 73(6):1834-41 • Mascari L, Ymele-Leki P, Eggleton CD, Speziale P, Ross JM. Fluid shear contributions to bacteria cell detachment initiated by a monoclonal antibody. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2003 Jul 5; 83(1):65-74 20

FaST • Grew out of separate faculty and student internship programs at NASA/GSFC • ~30 faculty and ~100 students each year • Faculty came for a variety of reasons • Research opportunities - Some of the best were research addicts at places where it was hard to do research • Build collaborations w. NASA scientists • Summer salary 21

FaST • Summer student internships • Limited by the time NASA mentors could give • Students only had 10 weeks • No continuity • Evaluation of hundreds of applications was not simple 22

FaST • Dick Fahey and I noticed that • There are significant numbers of faculty at NRHUs with spectacular research skills • Faculty fellowships often created lasting relations • The faculty fellows often sent students in the next years as interns • Some actually brought their own students with them 23

FaST • The program • Selected faculty members from applications • The faculty members selected one FaST student • Almost all of the selectees found ways to bring additional students • The program paid for the NASA partners to visit the FaST schools in the fall • There was supposed to be a small amount of follow on funding 24

FaST- Goals • A central issue for fellowship programs is follow on. Student internships bring short term benefits to the organizations where the interns work, they surely benefit the interns, and sometimes lead to career choices that internship sponsors desire. Yet, there is a low multiplier effect beyond good will communicated to other students after a good experience. Faculty programs have the potential for longer term involvement coupled with a more mature and sophisticated intellectual exchange. Although NASA has recruited several faculty from fellowship programs, the primary workforce benefit is the ability of faculty to act as talent spotters and steer their students to NASA careers. By combining faculty/student summer internships and paying attention to academic year follow on we hope to enrich the benefits of both types of programs. This program emphasizes building teams of faculty, student interns and NASA mentors. We will provide an intense introduction to EMSD and NASA R&D, and build links between NASA and the universities 25

FaST • Benefits • Productive teams, student interns did not sit around • Some faculty members nucleated other student interns in the division. • On-going collaborations, joint proposals and papers • Fall visits by NASA collaborators were big events on small campuses • In some cases NASA gained access to needed instrumentation/software • A real two way street 26

Original idea?? • NO • Since 1993 DOE/NSF has run a FaST program • Other similar efforts – U Cincinnati Bruce Ault 27

PREM Goals Partnership for Research and Education in MaterialsNSF – Division of Materials Research To enhance diversity in materials research and education by stimulating the development of formal, long-term, collaborative materials research and education partnerships between minority-serving institutions and Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC). 28

Partnership for Research and Education in Materials Howard University Johns Hopkins University Prince George’s Community College 29

Why PREM • Provide research opportunities • Improve materials education • Diversify the technical workforce • Opportunities to stay current and become visible 30

Faculty Benefits • Interactions between - PGCC/HU/JHU • Interactions within - CHM/BIO/EGR • Validation internally and externally • New opportunities for those who want them • Research opportunities for FaST 31

NanoExpress • The NanoExpress, is a nanotechnology lab on wheels • Demonstrates nanotechnology for K thru gray • The PREM brings the NanoExpress to Howard and PGCC as a state-of-the-art laboratory for teaching materials science, engineering and physical chemistry. • PREM students act as docents for the NanoExpress. 32

For STEM Students • NanoExpress on campus • visited by general and STEM students and staff –STEM recruiting • engineering students introduced to laboratory equipment • Molecular Visualization - hands-on session for STEM students • including chicken-wire nanotubes 33

Materials science pipeline Getting Students in the Pipeline Summer REU at Howard and Hopkins Real world research Away from home experience Some students to Johns Hopkins (7) Follow-up during semester 34 34

Materials science pipeline Getting Students in the Pipeline Summer REU at Howard Many students now applying to REUs Student selected by NNIN REU because of work done in previous year at Howard Student moving on to Howard and to research universities (UMd VTech) 35 35

Pipeline Students • Poster displays in Chesapeake Hall (chemistry/biology) and CAT building (engineering) – student success model! • Student publications 36

In-house Curriculum Development • Materials Science and Engineering Class • Sophomore EGR course – EGR 2300 • Normal stuff • Added material engineering into the introductory engineering course. This is significant in engineering as engineering is veering away from teaching ANY chemistry in the program and especially materials science. This has been taught every semester since I joined the PREM program with numerous refinements. Hundreds of students who would not otherwise be introduced to any materials science in their academic program were introduced to materials science. • PREM as a curriculum driver because it benefits faculty 37

Seminar Classes at CCs – Special! • Honors Seminar (CHM/BIO/EGR 2990H) • Nanotechnology • Howard and Johns Hopkins speakers • Molecular Workbench simulations • Spring 2011 (3rd offering) • Unusual at CCs • More auditors than enrolled 38

PREM has… • Given greater visibility for the Engineering program and STEM in general • Increased student opportunities • Increased student-faculty interactions • Increased materials approach • in courses 39

Gallaudet . . . . • Gallaudet is the national university for the deaf • In 2009, the PREM decided that building a relationship with Gallaudet was a high priority and a national one • The NanoExpress visited Gallaudet in 2009 • In summer 2010 Prof. Paul Sabila from Gallaudet did research at Howard 40

Gallaudet . . . . • One Gallaudet student was supposed to come • Three came • Paul said that they were so excited that he had to bring them • NSF provided a supplement 41

Gallaudet . . . . • We had one PGCC student, three GU students, four Howard students and one faculty member from GU, HU and PGCC • We set up laptops in our seminar room – thanks to Tufts • Seminars were held by instant messaging on gmail or WebEx • Everyone learned a very little ASL • Friday was scientific ethics day w. pizza • The entire group + the HNF REU visited NIST and JHU • There was an end of program poster session at JHU • It was a big deal – Sean came • This was important to the students 42

Partnership for Reduced Dimensional Materials Howard University Cornell University Gallaudet University Prince George’s Community College Be Kind 43

Lessons Applied • Built in FaST slots for PGCC and Gallaudet • Plans and mechanism for FaST @ Cornell – not entire summer, short acad. Yr. visits • IRG meetings @ Howard by video • Training all students as NanoExpress docents - involvement in Broader impacts important today • Funding for sign interpreters during seminars • Science is best signed by scientists • New PRDM faculty can sign (1+ @ GU 2 @ HU) • End of summer multi day trip to Cornell with tours, poster session, etc. • Major effect on University support 44

Thank you for listening A blog on CC issues http://suburbdad.blogspot.com A conference on transfer students: http://transferinstitute.unt.edu/content/creating-pathways-stem-transfer-student-success-2011 Gallaudet student blog: http://gblog.gallaudet.edu/ Signing Science http://signsci.terc.edu/ 45

Finding Partners