Finding Partners

1. Community College Finding Partners Using Research Opportunities to Build Lasting Relationships With Administrators, 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

2. Benefits of undergraduate research • Recommendations that count • Attitude • De l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace • -Georges-Jacques Danton (1759 - 1794) • It is disconcerting to reflect on the number of students we have flunked in chemistry for not knowing what we later found to be untrue. - Anon... • Chemistry is all about getting lucky..." -Robert Curl but you can’t get lucky without being there • And transfer students are usually not there 2

3. Undergraduate student project • Wild blue yonder experiments or database enhancements • Not pressured by competition from large labs • Matches the student’s schedule Experiments with a long build up time where the student can learn many techniques and technologies Relatively short data acquisition period where I can provide intense supervision Experiments involving a few faculty/scientists/grad students to provide constant coverage and a variety of expertise 3

4. 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 draft of the paper that Steve, you and I are sending to 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. 4

5. 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 • Panel reviewer for many outreach programs • Suggestion by Sean Jones, NSF • Kind invitation from Janet Marling. 5

6. Different worlds • Experience in all parts of the pipeline • Involvement with NSF REU programs • Involvement with collaborators at R1s and government labs • Involvement with collaborators/faculty at NRHUs • Involvement with collaborators at CCs • My goal is to bring these partners together which is a tall order because they have very different viewpoints and needs 6

7. Programs This talk is about three programs I have designed which show how research can be used to impact STEM students from CCs and NRHUs 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 7

8. 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 8

9. 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 9

10. Observations • Students move, faculty remain • Students must be prepared to transfer • Improving retention of transfer 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 10

11. 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 11

12. Transferring • How do we help transfer students succeed • Transferring is hard • You arrive in a very different place • You don’t know the faculty • The faculty does not know you • Faculty often expect (CC) transfers to fail 12

13. Knowledge • CC/NRHUs students need to know • What is expected • What resources are available • Research involvement can help • Experience of other places can help • Do not underestimate the thrills and challenges of going out of town 13

14. 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 14

15. 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 for students • Build continuity whenever you can 15

16. 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 16

17. 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. BiotechnolBioeng. 2003 Jul 5; 83(1):65-74 17

18. 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 18

19. 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 19

20. 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 20

21. 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 21

22. 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 22

23. 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 23

24. Original idea?? • Don’t know • DOE/NSF now runs a FaST program • Other similar efforts – U Cincinnati Bruce Ault 24

25. 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). 25

26. Partnership for Research and Education in Materials Howard University Johns Hopkins University Prince George’s Community College 26

27. Why PREM • Provide research opportunities • Improve materials education • Diversify the technical workforce • Opportunities to stay current and become visible 27

28. 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. 28

29. PREM – Value to PGCC 29

30. Faculty • Interactions within - CHM/BIO/EGR • Interactions between - PGCC/HU/JHU • Scott Johnson (PGCC engineering faculty) to Howard in 2011 - FaST 30

31. For STEM Students • NanoExpress on campus • visited by general and STEM students and staff • engineering students introduced to laboratory equipment • Molecular Visualization - hands-on session for STEM students • including chicken-wire nanotubes 31

32. Materials science pipeline Getting Students in the Pipeline Summer REU at Howard Real world research Away from home experience Some students to Johns Hopkins (6) Repeat for some students in the following summer (4) Follow-up during semester for some students (4) 32 32

33. 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 (UMdVTech) 33 33

34. Pipeline Students • Poster displays in Chesapeake Hall (chemistry/biology) and CAT building (engineering) – student success model! • Student publications 34

35. In-house Curriculum Development • Materials Science and Engineering Class • Sophomore EGR course – EGR 2300 • Planning for Spring 2011 • Nanotechnology component added to Introduction to Engineering class (EGR 1010) • REU students presented in EGR 1010 35

36. More In-house Curr. Del. • Honors Seminar (CHM/BIO/EGR 2990H) • Nanotechnology • Howard and Johns Hopkins speakers • Visualization • Molecular Workbench simulations • Spring 2011 (3rd offering) 36

37. MatSciExcelets • Animated interactive spreadsheets for sophomore level Materials Science and intro chemistry, physics, and engineering courses • 38 spreadsheets available • Website http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/matsci_excelets.htm 37

38. MatSciExcelets – Live! 38

39. MatSci Excelets Web stats International !!! PC/Mac compatible No protection Excel 2003 format Most OpenOffice compatible http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s45matsciex&r=36 39

40. MatSciExcelets • Presentations - ACS 2009, MRS 2009/2010, Innovations 2010, MARM 2011 • Publications - MRS Proceedings, Chemical Educator (to be submitted) • Workshop for faculty (Year 5 planning) 40

41. 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 especially with Excelets 41

42. Gallaudet . . . . • Gallaudet is the national university for the deaf • The NanoExpress visited Gallaudet in 2009 • As part of the visit, Silicon Run was subtitled • In summer 2010 Prof. Paul Sabila from Gallaudet did research at Howard 42

43. 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 43

44. 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 • 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 44

45. Thank you for listening 45

46. PREM Pipeline