Source: Universidad del Este submitted to
ENHANCING STEM UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES AT UNIVERSIDAD DEL ESTE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1010529
Grant No.
2016-38503-25748
Project No.
PR.W-2016-05965
Proposal No.
2016-05965
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
WAM
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2016
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2020
Grant Year
2016
Project Director
Rodriguez-Bonano, N.
Recipient Organization
Universidad del Este
PO Box 2010
Carolina,PR 00984
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The proposed UNE-WAMS project is destined to encourage participation of women andunderrepresented minorities from rural areas in Puerto Rico in a training program designed tofulfill their academic and professional goals. The STEM offerings at Universidad del Este includea Bachelor's degrees in Biology, Microbiology and Microbiology with a minor in Food Safety.The minor program contributes towards the nation's need to overcome its food safety issues. Thecontent of the courses offered under the minor prepared the students in the following areas: (1)microbiological hazards identification (2) quality control, (3) safe production and handling offoods, and (4) epidemiology of foodborne diseases. UNE-WAMS will involve identifyingpromising sophomore STEM students enrolled in any of the BS programs with the food safetyminor and provide them with advise, mentoring, training and educational opportunities inpreparation for their careers. The objectives of the project are: (1) to implement a student retentionprogram to enhance the educational experience at UNE which will include career advising, peertutoring, seminars, workshops and community services; (2) to provide student experiential learningopportunities through undergraduate research experiences in Food Safety at UNE or atcollaborative industries and academic institutions; and (3) to increase the alignment ofundergraduate STEM education and degree production with workforce needs, particularly at theregional level, with a focus on Food Safety and other high-demand STEM fields. The methodologyplanned by the PD, as recommended by stakeholders, is focused towards the development andmanagement of the project based on the selected USDA-WAMS educational need areas: (a)student recruitment, retention, and educational equity; and (b) student experiential learning. Thisproject proposes to impact 10 sophomore STEM students directly. Two cohorts of 5 students (atleast 3 females in each cohort) will be selected to participate in UNE-WAMS. The first cohort willbe recruited into the program at the beginning of the first funding period of this grant (Year 1).Cohort 1 will participate in UNE-WAMS until the end of their junior year (Year 2). The secondcohort will be recruited into the program at the beginning of the second funding period of this grant(Year 2) and will participate in UNE-WAMS until the end of their junior year (Year 3). At the endof Year 3, a total of 10 junior STEM students (at least 60% females) will have benefitted from theprogram and should be ready and committed to the job seeking or graduate school applicationprocesses during their senior year. To achieve objective #1, the project will provide the studentswith academic and personal counseling, mentoring, tutoring, study skills reinforcement, timemanagement, and other activities to participants at all points in their educational pipeline. UNEWAMSwill also works towards the successful placement of UNE-WAMS participants inundergraduate research and internship programs, which will provide the students with theopportunity to learn valuable technical skills and scientific responsibility (objective #2). Finally,to comply with objective #3, a seminars and workshop series will be provided to all the participantsrelated but not limited to (1) job shadowing, work placements, and community-based learning; (2)job skills and personal development; (3) technical writing; (4) English as the second language; (5)leadership and team work; (6) abstract and poster preparation; and (7) bioinformatics. UNEWAMSwill use an on-going and systematic evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the proposedproject in relation to achieve the program objectives and expected project outcomes. At the end,the project's results are graduate professionals with the knowledge and expertise to engage in theethical use of scientific tools to maximize agricultural production and improve food safety. Theywill be able to assume jobs in agricultural related organizations or may continue to graduate schooland then pursue a career in food safety teaching and research.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
71240991103100%
Goals / Objectives
The main goal of UNE-WAMS is to enhance UNE's ability to attract women and underrepresented minorities sophomore students from rural areas (Canovanas, Rio Grande, Loiza, Luquillo, Ceiba and Naguabo) that are interested in the STEM disciplines and promote their development towards completion of their studies. Therefore, UNE-WAMS and on-campus collaborators will identify promising sophomore students at the SC & T and provide them with advise, mentoring, training and educational opportunities in preparation for STEM-related careers. The following three objectives are proposed to establish the UNE-WAMS project:Objective #1: Implement a student retention program to enhance the educational experience at UNE which will include career advising, peer tutoring, seminars, workshops and community services.Objective #2: Provide student experiential learning opportunities through undergraduate research experiences in Food Safety at UNE or at collaborative industries and academic institutions. Objective #3: Increase the alignment of undergraduate STEM education and degree production with workforce needs, particularly at the regional level, with a focus on Food Safety and other high-demand STEM fields.
Project Methods
The implementation of the UNE-WAMS program's components will be a collaborative effort. Briefly, UNE's Retention's "RENACER" Program will provide tutoring services and advising to program participants. UNE's Student Leadership Institute (ILE, by its acronym in Spanish) will provide workshops in team skills, communication skills, self-efficacy and professional skills to program participants. The Office for Quality of Life (OQL) will provide counseling services, community services opportunities and activities and workshops of empowering women in every stage of their career path to students participating in UNE-WAMS. UNE's faculty will provide research experiences in their laboratories and serve as research mentors to program participants.Methods for objective 1:The project will provide academic and personal counseling, mentoring, tutoring, study skills reinforcement, time management, and other activities to 10 participants at all points in their educational pipeline. To achieve the first objective of UNE-WAMS, the PD will worked besides an Academic Advisor (AA) and peer tutors (PT).A Tutorial Component will employ two exceptional senior STEM students identify by "RENACER" who will serve as PT participating in tutoring services. The PTs will be provided and payed by the Office of Student Support Services at UNE. PTs will provide course-specific assistance to the project participants. The PTs and the "RENACER" program will record the students' assistances to all tutoring sessions and report success in STEM courses directly to the PD.A School of Sciences and Technology (SC & T) faculty member will be assigned as the AA to participating students. The AA will meet with the STEM faculty to establish learning tools and assessment strategies to ensure success of the students in their courses. Each student will have at least 8 appointments (twice a month) with the AA during both semester of their sophomore year. By the end of the sophomore year, the AA will assist the participants in the selection of courses for their junior year. The degree plan will be reviewed each year, and job options and life plan will be discussed. The AA shall keep a record of the participants' attendance and submit it to the PD each semester.An attendance form will be provided to the student in which the PT, AA or PD (depending on the services offered to the student) will have to sign every time the student comply with the scheduled UNE-WAMS activities. The student participants shall keep a record of her/his attendance to every tutoring session, seminar and workshops and appointments with the AA. At the end of each month, the students shall submit the form to the PD. Afterwards, the PD will approved a monthly stipends ($350) for the students that has complied with UNE-WAMS. These will be offered during the first year of participation in UNE-WAMS to both cohorts.The PD will keep a record of tutor's and participant's attendance to tutoring sessions, student academic performance and services provided. The PD will also meet monthly with the AA and PTs to ensure the proper management of the UNE-WAMS Program. The PD will be responsible for coordinating and/or offering STEM-related seminars and workshops suitable for the academic development of the participants.Methods for objective 2.During the first year of participation in UNE-WAMS, the PD will assist the students in the search and application process for an agricultural-related job experience during the academic year and a summer internship. The summer internship may also include opportunities at a local food industry. The Biology, Biotechnology and Microbiology curriculum includes a 1 credit internship course in the curricula. The School has placed students to work at Suiza Dairy, Indulac and Goya Corporations before. The same industries/stakeholders will be considered for internships under UNE-WAMS.During the second year of participation in UNE-WAMS, each student should apply and compete for summer internships. The students are expected to apply to at least 5 internships in the U.S. and PR. The students shall be able to narrow down the possibilities, learn how to navigate the application process and ultimately be successful in receiving an internship offer. If not, the PD will placed the student in summer research on-campus.During their second year at UNE-WAMS, each student participant will work with a research mentor at UNE. The students will actively participate with the research mentor in an ongoing research project or work collaboratively with the mentor in designing a new project of mutual interest for the year. The PD will approved the 2-weeks stipends ($225) for the students that has complied with UNE-WAMS requirements (15 hours/week, including activities and workshops) for the experiential learning process. At the end of each semester, the research mentor will have to complete an evaluation form for each student's performance in the laboratory. Afterwards, the mentor shall submit the evaluation forms to the PD. The mentor shall also inform the presentations that the students have given during the year and any publications that may have resulted from the student's experiments.Prior to engaging in any research activities, the PD will offer biosafety training to the students and will assist them during an online CITI Biosafety and Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) certification program available through the AGMUS webpage. The PD will meet with the other research mentors to make sure that all the students' projects are registered with the appropriate committee. The PD will also seek approval of the UNE-WAMS project by the AGMUS Institutional Review Board (IRB), before the initiation date. The students shall present their research work at local and national meetings, including but not limited to the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Annual meeting of the Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists (PRSM), American Chemical Society (ACS) Annual Junior Technical Meeting, and the UNE Undergraduate Research Symposium. All participants must end their two year participation at UNE-WAMS with at least two presentations, locally and/or nationally. The program will allocate funds to cover the costs associated with poster preparations and participation of two students at national meetings per year. Registration and presentation costs for local meetings will also may be provided, yet the PD will encourage participation at meetings that usually are free of charge for students. Methods for objective 3:The PD will meet with both cohorts once they are selected to participate in UNE-WAMS to instruct them about the resources available through the program on how to prepare for a future career. The first workshop for both cohorts will be offered by UNE-WAMS in collaboration with the university's ILE and OQL with and it will be intended to align the STEM education with the workforce in the area of Food Safety. The workshop will be related to the development of career portfolios, which shall include professional and concentration courses taken and grade results, examples of successful and relevant student assignments, extracurricular activities, evidence of participation at UNE-WAMS, presentations, internship participation, community service and resumes and cover letters to prospective employers or graduate schools.UNE-WAMS, ILE and OQL will also coordinate the next seven workshops through the students' 2-year participation in the program: (1) Arranging job shadowing, work placements, and community-based learning; (2) job skills and personal development; (3) technical writing; (4) English as the second language; (5) leadership and team work; (6) abstract and poster preparation; and (7) bioinformatics. Other workshops and seminars will be developed to enhance the students' development at the discretion of the PD.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:This last funding year gave the students in Cohort #2 additional time to work on their projects. These students started their work on late January 2018 due to the aftermath left by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Four students continued their research projects until March 2020. The lock down due to the Covid-19 pandemic forced all mentors to terminate bench and on-hands experiences early, as students were supposed to work on their projects and had available funding until April 2020. Yet, the project covered stipends until March 2020. All student participants completed their work analysis remotely as instructed by their mentors. Students that represented Cohort #2 participated as undergraduate researchers under the direct supervision of 4 mentors in on-campus laboratories. All students maintained their Good Standing Status and successfully complied with the WAMS requirements (workshops, seminars, tutoring sessions and summer internship applications) during their participation in the program on the 2019-2020 academic year. Cohort #2 included 4 female (80%) and one male (20%) students. Four and one students were from the Microbiology and Biology programs, respectively. One student from Cohort #2 decided to decline her participation in the project during this last year, as she was accepted for a 1-year internship at a Veterinary Clinic. This student's goal is to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, so the internship offer was a great opportunity for her. Yet, the student participated for 1.5 years in the WAMS project as she started her participation in January 2018. Therefore, the 4-year WAMS project impacted a total of 10 STEM students (cohorts 1 and 2 with 5 students each), regardless of the one student decision to decline her participation. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Each student participated in the WAMS project for two years. The project offered off-campus training during the first year participation for all students at food-related industries or organizations related to research and science education. Seminars and workshops were offered to prepare them for a future professional career during their first year of participation. The students were involved in their experiential learning work during their second year of participation. Seminars and workshops were offered to enhance the experiential learning. They included, biosafety and cumpliance and poster presentation and laboratory notebook preparations, among others. Students participated in other university or community-driven extracurricular activities as required by the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The WAMS project was successful and brought many opportunities to STEM students at UAGM despite all the events that have placed obstacles to its administration: hurricanes Irma and Maria on September 2017, earthquakes in December 2019-January 2020 and the current Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, all methods were performed and all objectives were achieved. An article based on the achievements of this project is currently under development. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All students that represented Cohort #1 have graduated with their BS degrees in STEM fields (3 in Microbiology, 1 in Biology and 1 in Biotechnology). Therefore, 100% of students from Cohort #1 benefitted from the opportunities that the project offered them toward their development. Three students are females (60%) and 2 are males (40%). Four of these students have moved on to pursue graduate studies. One student decided to pursue a professional career in medicine and was recently accepted to medical school. Three students that represented Cohort#2, just graduated with their BS degrees in Microbiology. One of these students is currently starting her graduate studies. The other two graduates decided to pursue a career in Veterinary medicine. Two students are in their last year of studies, one in Biology and one in Microbiology. Both students will graduate next June 2021. The goal of the WAMS project was to enhance the institution ability to attract women and underrepresented minorities sophomore students that are interested in the STEM disciplines and promote their development towards completion of their studies. The project achieved this goal with 10 students (100%) retained in STEM disciplines, eight (80%) that graduated with a STEM degree and two (20%) that are still enrolled and in their last year of studies. The students that participated in the project presented their work at several local and national meetings like Microbe2019 (American Society for Microbiology), the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) and the Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists Students Symposium. A total of 5 presentation were offered by the students representing Cohort #2 during the last funding year, all before March 2020. One student obtained a best presentation award at ABRCMS. Even though the funding was limited, we offered support to all participants that wanted to present their work at meetings. We made every effort to collaborate with other federal and institutional projects to cover for students travel arrangements. Initially, we only had travel funding for a limited number of students but we managed to fund all 10 students for their national meeting attendance and presentations. Therefore, 100% of students were able to present their undergraduate research work. The project ended with 19 presentations at local and national meetings. Moreover, one student from Cohort #1 was awarded a renewal of the "PR-INBRE Undergraduate Junior Research Associates" from the Puerto Rico IDeA Network. This award covered research materials and a stipend for the student, beyond her two-year participation in the WAMS program. In addition, 9 out of 10 students (90%) were able to get accepted and participated in at least one summer internship program. In 2019, three students participated in summer internships at University of Wisconsin, University of Utah and Pennsylvania State University. This year, two students were accepted to summer internships. However, the internship acceptance process was halted in many institutions due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. All expected products and outcomes proposed for the WAMS project at UAGM were achieved. Product 1: Recruitment of women and underrepresented minorities from rural communities. The achieved outcome was the increase enrollment of women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM related degrees at UAGM. One hundred percent of all participants were minorities and 70% were females. All participants were enrolled an retain in STEM programs during the project. Product 2: Advising, counseling and tutoring services to 10 students during their sophomore and junior years. The achieved outcome was that at least 80% of participants successfully advance to their senior year, finally graduate with a STEM degree and find work at a food industry or continue to graduate studies. So far, 80% of participants graduated and 20% are enrolled in their senior year. Most of the students who graduated (5 out of 8 students; 62.5%) are pursuing graduate degrees, 1 (12.5%) is in medical school and 2 (25%) are pursuing veterinary medicine professional degrees. The two students who are in their final year of studies are applying for graduate school this year. Product 3: Participation of students at summer internships programs sponsored by institution or food industry. The achieved outcome was that one hundred percent (100%) of WAMS students engaged in an experiential learning process off-campus. All students participated as interns at a food-related industry or in areas related to sciences and education. The food-related industries that accepted WAMS participants were Caribbean Produce Exchange, Goya Corporation, Ballester Hermanos and the Milk Industry Development Fund. Other organization that accepted our students as internes were the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust (Vector Control department) and CienciaPR. Besides these internships, 90% of all participants were accepted to summer research programs in PR and the US. Product 4: Participation of students in undergraduate research project with a mentor during the academic year and sponsored by WAMS. The achieved outcome was that 100% of WAMS students engaged in research on-campus. This resulted in an overall increase in the number of students participating in research projects at UAGM during the past four years. Four faculty members participated as mentors for the WAMS students. Product 5: Student presentations at local and national meetings. The achieved outcome was that 100% of WAMS students at UAGM engaged in an experiential learning process or research and presented at least once. The presentations were either at local or national meetings. The presentations and awards that the WAMS students achieved during their work were also due to the commitment of their mentors. Product 6: Schedule workshops and seminars sponsored by WAMS. The achieved outcome was that 100% of WAMS participants attended the programmed workshops, tutoring sessions, extracurricular and community-driven activities as an important step towards their academic success. Other activities in which we all participated were the UAGM open houses for freshman students and the university-sponsored Transdisciplinary Research Forum, among others. Product 7: Job hunt and graduate school applications during the participants' senior year. The achieved outcome was that 90% of all participants are currently focused on career placement or graduate school application during their senior year. One student decided to pursue a career in medicine. Yet 7 of 8 (87.5%) students who graduated are pursuing graduate studies or veterinary medicine. The two students that are still enrolled in Microbiology but are graduating in June 2021, are already applying for graduate studies at universities in the US. In the WAMS proposal we indicated five pitfalls that we expected to encounter during the implementation of all methods to achieve the objectives of the project at UAGM from September 2016 to August 2020. These were: (a) student failing a particular course due to any number of reasons. (b) student not interested in participating in the project anymore. (c) student reclassifying from a STEM to a non-STEM degree. (d) student not interested in undergraduate research. (e) student's constant absences from seminars, workshops and any other activities programmed by WAMS. To respond to these proposed pitfalls, (a) none of the students failed a STEM course, (b) only one student decided not to participate after 1.5 years because of a given opportunity related to her future professional goals, (c) none of the students reclassified to a non-STEM degree, (d) all students participated in undergraduate research on and off-campus and (e) all students demonstrated responsibility and interest in participating in every seminar, workshop and activities programmed by the project.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The five STEM students that represent Cohort #2 are currently participating as undergraduate researchers under the direct supervision of 4 mentors in on-campus laboratories. All students maintained their Good Standing Status and successfully complied with the UNE-WAMS requirements (workshops, seminars, tutoring sessions and summer internship applications) during their participation in the program on the 2018-2019 academic year. Cohort #2 includes 4 female (80%) and one male (20%) students. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All students from Cohort #2 participated in undergraduate research projects related to food safety and agriculture during the third year of the program. Students were placed at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, CienciaPR, Caribbean Produce Exchange, and Ballester Hermanos, Inc. They started their job experiences in February 2018 and finished on November 2018. Afterwards, students were placed with research mentors in on-campus laboratories to start their research experiences. They started their projects on February 2019 and it is projected that they will finish the experiential learning process by March 2020. The costs of research materials for the students' projects are covered by UNE-WAMS. The current undergraduate research mentors are: Dr. Loyda Mendez, received one student (the student presented at the 62nd Annual Convention of PRSM and at ASM Microbe 2019). Dr. Mariel Perez, received two students. Dr. Nydia Rodriguez-Bonano (PD), received one student. Dr. Rodriguez-Bonano was a co-author of the poster presentation during the PRSM and ASM Microbe 2019 meetings as she is a collaborator of Dr. Loyda Mendez. Dr. Karlo Malave, received one student (the student presented at the ABRCMS conference). During this past third year, the PD and AA assisted Cohort #2 participants through the search and application process for off-campus summer internship and their placement in undergraduate research projects for the 2019-2020 academic year. Like last year, the PD participated, along with other faculty members, in an activity sponsored by the School to help all STEM students in the writing of their personal statements and abstracts. All participants submitted applications to at least three internship programs to universities in the US and PR. Two students from Cohort #2 were accepted to undergraduate research programs in the US. One student was accepted to participate in the Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Program's Summer Research Opportunities at University of Wisconsin, Madison. The second student was accepted to the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Pennsylvania State University. Services As last year, the "RENACER" program at UAGM scheduled all tutoring sessions for Cohort #2. The AA and the PD evaluated the academic schedule for the students and selected the target courses for the tutoring sessions. The students completed the "RENACER" request for available tutoring sessions using the MiUAGM portal available through the university webpage (http://estune.suagm.edu/servicios_electronicos). Then, the "RENACER" program referred the UNE-WAMS participants to the peer STEM tutors (PT) designated for the target courses. The PTs were interviewed, accepted as PTs and payed directly by the "RENACER" program. The target courses for which the UNE-WAMS students in Cohort #2 received the tutoring services were: Biochemistry and Calculus. Workshops/ Seminars This past year workshop/seminars were coordinated by UNE-WAMS in collaboration with the university's the university's Center for Innovation, Employment and Entrepreneurship (CIEE) and the HSI-STEM programs. The workshops were designed as to prepare the students in areas related to their job experiences and research: (1) Biosafety and Responsible Conduct of Research Certification, (2) Searching the Database: Science Direct, (3) Time Management and (4) The Poster: an Efficient presentation, (5)interview skills, (6) CV/resume writing and (7) ethics in the workplace. A rubric was used to evaluate the following general criteria: (1) place and appropriateness of the room for the learning process, (2) duration of the workshop, (3) educational materials offered, (4) time and interactions for questions and answers and (5) importance of the educational content. The lecturer was evaluated by the students using the same form in terms of: (1) workshops objectives presented, (2) preparedness, (3) organization of content, (4) use of novel strategies during the workshop and (5) compliance with the objectives of the workshop. Cohort #2 evaluated the workshop in using a range of 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent). The general and lecturer's criteria for all workshops averaged between 4.5 and 4.9, respectively. Since the workshops was designed in collaborations with other training programs at the University, students that are not participants of UNE-WAMS also attended several of the workshops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The students participated with the PD in presenting the program goals and success in several university activities targeting new students and during Science Week as a way to promote community service. One of the students offered a poster presentation at the last Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The students' travel arrangements was supported by the UNE-WAMS Program. One student presented her research findings at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists (PRSM), a branch of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The same student presented her work at the ASM Microbe 2019 meeting in San Francisco, California, this past June 2019. The UNE-WAMS program covered the student's poster printing costs and registration for both meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?All students will continue their research projects from September 1, 2019 to March 2020 as approved on the no-cost extension request of the UNE-WAMS program.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The UNE-WAMS program is currently starting its fourth and last year. The program goals and success was presented during several activities this 2018-2019 academic year (University Adventure Program, Summer Boot Camp, Science Week and at the Transdisciplinary Symposium). The goal of UNE-WAMS is to enhance UNE's ability to attract women and underrepresented minorities sophomore students from rural areas in Puerto Rico that are interested in the STEM disciplines and promote their development towards completion of their studies. The program has achieved this goal. As stated before, the program has impacted 7 female (70%) and 3 male (30%) STEM minority students. To date, two former participants from Cohort #1 have graduated. One student achived his BS degree in Biotechnology and a second student achieved her BS in Microbiology. The remaining three students from the former Cohort #1 are now entering their fifth year of studies and will graduate on June 2020. The students in Cohort #1 are entering their fourth year of study in good standing. One student has continue her research work beyond her participation in UNE-WAMS. This student was awarded the "PR-INBRE Undergraduate Junior Research Associates" from the Puerto Rico IDeA Network. This award covers research materials and a stipend for the student.

    Publications


      Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18

      Outputs
      Target Audience:The program recruited the second group of five sophomore undergraduate students (Cohort #2) using the same competitive and selective process as described previously for Cohort #1. Due to the past atmospheric events that affected Puerto Rico, the 2017 fall semester was greatly affected in terms of available internships, research opportunities, workshops and other students' activities. The university re-opened in mid-October with limited resources and a damaged infrastructure. Therefore, the recruitment of Cohort #2 was finalized on January 2018. The UNE-WAMS interview rubric was used to facilitate the selection process. As for Cohort #1, the recently recruited students demonstrated financial need and good academic standing (GPA of 3.0 or greater). Cohort #2 includes 4 female (80%) and 1 male (20%) students. The three STEM disciplines at UNE are represented within Cohort #2. They also complied with several other criteria to be recruited into the program, including that they (1) are underrepresented minorities who are residents in a rural area or municipality in Puerto Rico; (2) presented one excellent recommendation letter from a STEM faculty; (3) demonstrated commitment to a career in an agricultural field, and (4) assisted to an interview process with the PD and AA (Dr. Angel Arcelay) of the program. The "Student Participation in UNE-WAMS" contract was used to finalize the process of recruitment for Cohort #2. The five STEM students that represented Cohort #1 finalized their participation in the UNE-WAMS program on May 2018. All students maintained their Good Standing Status and successfully complied with the UNE-WAMS requirements during their participation in the program. Cohort #1 included 3 female (60%) and two male (40%) students. Changes/Problems:The UNE-WAMS program was affected by the atmospheric events (Hurricanes Irma and Maria) that occur last year. Therefore, Cohort #2 was affected in terms of recruitment and planned activities. The students have only participated in the program during the spring semestre of the 2017-2018 academic year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Internships and job experiences During this past second year, the PD and AA assisted both Cohorts' participants through the search and application process for off-campus summer internship and their placement in undergraduate research projects for the 2017-2018 academic year. Also, the PD participated, along with other faculty members, in an activity sponsored by the School to help all STEM students in the writing of their personal statements and abstracts. As last year, each student submitted applications to at least three internship programs to universities in the US and PR. Cohort #1: One student was accepted to participate in the Molecular & Environmental Toxicology Program's Summer Research Opportunities at University of Wisconsin, Madison. All students from Cohort #1 participated in undergraduate research projects related to food safety and agriculture during the second year of the program. One student presented her research findings at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists (PRSM), a branch of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The UNE-WAMS program covered the student's poster printing costs and registration for the PRSM meeting. Two of the students are currently submitting abstracts for presentation at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS). If accepted for presentation, both students' travel arrangements will be supported by the UNE-WAMS Program. The costs of research materials for the students' projects were covered by UNE-WAMS. The undergraduate research mentors were: Dr. Loyda Mendez, received one student (the student presented at the 61st Annual Convention of PRSM and is submitting abstract to ABRCMS). Dr. Mariel Perez, received two students (one was accepted for summer internship at U. Wisconsin as indicated above and is submitting abstract to ABRCMS). Dr. Nydia Rodriguez-Bonano (PD), received one student (Microbiology graduate as indicated above). Dr. Rodriguez-Bonano was a co-author of the poster presentation during the PRSM meeting as she is a collaborator of Dr. Loyda Mendez. Dr. Karlo Malave, received one student. Cohort #2 One student from Cohort #2 was accepted to the SRIMS Summer Program in Biomedical Sciences at Marshall University. The student will be submitting an abstract to ABRCMS. A combination of workshops-job experience is currently been coordinated for Cohort #2 during this third year of the UNE-WAMS program. The PD contacted food and agricultural-related corporations/stakeholders directly to place the students in job experiences during the just started fall academic semester. The students in Cohort #2 are currently been placed at the following public or private corporations: Caribbean Produce, Ballester Hermanos, Inc., Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust and Ciencia Puerto Rico. It is planned that the students will finish their job experiences by December 2018. Services As last year, the "RENACER" program at UNE scheduled all tutoring sessions for Cohort #1. The AA and the PD evaluated the academic schedule for the students and selected the target courses for the tutoring sessions. The students completed the "RENACER" request for available tutoring sessions using the MiUNE portal available through the university webpage (http://estune.suagm.edu/servicios_electronicos). Then, the "RENACER" program referred the UNE-WAMS participants to the peer STEM tutors (PT) designated for the target courses. The PTs were interviewed, accepted as PTs and payed directly by the "RENACER" program. The target courses for which the UNE-WAMS students in Cohort #1 received the tutoring services were: Organic Chemistry II, Calculus and Immunology. The target courses for which the UNE-WAMS students in Cohort #2 received the tutoring services were: General Chemistry II, and General Microbiology. Workshops/ Seminars Cohort #1 The workshop/seminars Series #2 (second year of students' participation in the program) was coordinated by UNE-WAMS in collaboration with the university's HSI-STEM and the MBRS-RISE orograms. Series #2 was designed as to prepare the students in areas related to research: (1) Biosafety and Responsible Conduct of Research Certification, (2) Searching the Database: Science Direct, (3) Time Management and (4) The Poster: an Efficient presentation. The same rubric that was used to evaluate Series #1 was used to evaluate Series #2 workshops using the following general criteria: (1) place and appropriateness of the room for the learning process, (2) duration of the workshop, (3) educational materials offered, (4) time and interactions for questions and answers and (5) importance of the educational content. The lecturer was evaluated by the students using the same form in terms of: (1) workshops objectives presented, (2) preparedness, (3) organization of content, (4) use of novel strategies during the workshop and (5) compliance with the objectives of the workshop. Cohort #1 evaluated the workshop in using a range of 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent). The general and lecturer's criteria for all workshops averaged between 4.5 and 4.8, respectively. Since the workshops was designed in collaborations with other training programs at the University, students that are not participants of UNE-WAMS attended the Series #2 workshops. The impact of the workshops, community service and undergraduate research in the students' academic and professional development is currently under analysis by the program's external evaluator. Cohort #2 The students participated in the Searching the Database: Science Direct and Time Management workshops along with Cohort #1 last semester. At the request of the PD, they were actively involved in the University recovery efforts from the hurricane season. They also participated side by side with the PD in presenting the program goals and success in the University Adventure, UNE's Summer Boot Camp and Science Week activities as a way to promote community service. The students of Cohort #2 also attended activities organized by other training programs as recommended by UNE-WAMS: The UNE-WAMS program is currently planning the workshop/seminars Series #1 in collaboration with the university's Center for Innovation, Employment and Entrepreneurship (CIEE). Series #1 is designed as to group several job-related areas: professional portfolio, interview skills and CV/resume writing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The program goals and success was presented during several activities this past spring semester (University Adventure, UNE's Summer Boot Camp and Science Week). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? The UNE-WAMS program is currently starting its third year. The program goals and success was presented during several activities this past spring semester (University Adventure, UNE's Summer Boot Camp and Science Week). The goal of UNE-WAMS is to enhance UNE's ability to attract women and underrepresented minorities sophomore students from rural areas in Puerto Rico that are interested in the STEM disciplines and promote their development towards completion of their studies. The program has achieved this goal. Overall, the program has impacted 7 female (70%) and 3 male (30%) STEM minority students. So far, one student participant from Cohort #1, finished her BS degree in Microbiology this past summer semester. The BS program is design to be completed in 5 years, but her incredible commitment to reach her academic goals helped her to finish the requirements for the degree in 4 years. The recently graduated student was accepted for a job at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust. Specifically, she is working on the Clean Water project which is an initiative developed by the Trust to established a new water filtration system that would eliminate 99% of contaminants and minimize the spread of pathogens like Leptospira spp., Escherichia coli and Cryptosporidium spp.

      Publications


        Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

        Outputs
        Target Audience:The UNE-WAMS program began during the 2016 fall semester. The General Microbiology course with more than 30 STEM students, was targeted for immediate dissemination of the program's goals and benefits to the students. A fifteen minutes presentation was given at the beginning of the class and laboratory sessions of the course. Furthermore, a flyer announcing the existence of the new program was posted on the SC & T's main office, Facebook page, classrooms and laboratories. An application form was created and made available to the students interested in the program. The UNE-WAMS program recruited five sophomore undergraduate students (Cohort #1) during a competitive and selective process. An interview rubric was created to facilitate the selection process. The selected students demonstrated financial need and good academic standing (GPA of 3.0 or greater). They also complied with several other criteria, besides financial need, to be recruited into the program, including that they (1) are underrepresented minorities who are residents in a rural area or municipality in Puerto Rico; (2) presented one excellent recommendation letter from a STEM faculty; (3) demonstrated commitment to a career in an agricultural field, and (4) assisted to an interview process with the PD and AA (Dr. Angel Arcelay) of the program. A "Student Participation in UNE-WAMS" contract was created to finalize the process of recruitment for Cohort #1. The contract established the expected commitments by the students, the opportunities that UNE-WAMS will provide them and reasons for immediate termination due to non-compliance with the program. Cohort #1 includes 3 female (60%) and two male (40%) students. The three STEM disciplines at UNE (Biology, Microbiology and Biotechnology) are represented within Cohort #1. One student is a Biology major. The Biotechnology and Microbiology academic programs are each represented by two students. One of the Biotechnology students is a veteran of the US Armed Forces. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Internships and job experiences One of the objectives (#2) of the UNE-WAMS program is to provide student experiential learning opportunities through undergraduate research experiences in food safety at UNE or at collaborative industries and academic institutions. During this first year of UNE-WAMS, the PD and AA assisted the Cohort #1 participants through the search and application process for off-campus summer internship. The AA worked closely with the students in the writing of personal statements for the internships. Since the program started, the students have visited the AA office by sticking to their regular schedule appointments with him. Each student submitted applications to at least three internship programs to universities in the US and PR. Two students were accepted to participate in such summer research experiences: (1) NSF REU:PR CLIMB program at University of Puerto Rico-"Chemical Learning Integrated in Materials and Biomolecular Applications" and (2) the NOAA-Sponsored Summer 2017 Joint Research Experience at AGMUS and Howard University- "Using drones with sensors to verify temperature, pressure, and humidity in any field". A combination of workshops-job experience was also coordinated for Cohort #1 during this first year of the UNE-WAMS program. The PD contacted food and agricultural-related corporations/stakeholders directly to place the students in job experiences during the academic semester. The students in Cohort #1 worked in the following public or private corporations: Student 1 (Microbiology) working at the Milk Industry Development Fund. Student 2 (Microbiology) working at Caribbean Produce. Student 3 (Biology) working at Ballester Hermanos, Inc. Student 4 (Biotechnology) working at Goya Foods. Student 5 (Biotechnology) working at Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust. An instructions and documents package for the corporations/stakeholders and the students were discussed in meetings with key representatives or students supervisors in each job-experience site. The documents established the goal and objectives of UNE-WAMS, as well as the duration and learning outcomes of this experience. The supervisors at each corporation established a diverse list of tasks for the students, which included from sampling and microbiological testing to public policy and outreach. Three students worked eight hours a week until the end of the academic semester. The two Microbiology students worked ten hours a week because their curriculum includes a 1 credit internship course, which requires 160 hours of work per semester. The Dean of the SC & T approved their early enrollment of the students to the course. At the end of the job experience, the supervisors used the Student Job Evaluation Rubric designed by UNE-WAMS to evaluate the students' performance. Services The "RENACER" program at UNE scheduled all tutoring sessions for Cohort #1. The AA and the PD evaluated the academic schedule for the students and selected the target courses for the tutoring sessions. The students completed the "RENACER" request for available tutoring sessions using the MiUNE portal available through the university webpage (http://estune.suagm.edu/servicios_electronicos). Then, the "RENACER" program referred the UNE-WAMS participants to the peer STEM tutors (PT) designated for the target courses. The PTs were interviewed, accepted as PTs and payed directly by the "RENACER" program. The target courses for which the UNE-WAMS students received the tutoring services were: General Chemistry II, Organic Chemistry II, Calculus, General Microbiology and Immunology. The impact of the tutoring sessions in the students' learning process is currently under analysis by the "RENACER" program. Workshops/ Seminars The UNE-WAMS program established two workshop/seminars series (#1 and #2). The workshop/seminars Series #1 (first year of students' participation in the program) was coordinated by UNE-WAMS in collaboration with the university's Center for Innovation, Employment and Entrepreneurship (CIEE). Series #1 was designed as to group several job-related areas: professional portfolio, interview skills and CV/resume writing. Cohort #1 completed the first workshop series. UNE-WAMS designed a rubric form to evaluate each workshop using the following general criteria: (1) place and appropriateness of the room for the learning process, (2) duration of the workshop, (3) educational materials offered, (4) time and interactions for questions and answers and (5) importance of the educational content. The lecturer was evaluated by the students using the same form in terms of: (1) workshops objectives presented, (2) preparedness, (3) organization of content, (4) use of novel strategies during the workshop and (5) compliance with the objectives of the workshop. Cohort #1 evaluated the workshop in using a range of 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent). The general and lecturer's criteria for all workshops averaged between 4.8 and 5, respectively. Other students that are not participants of UNE-WAMS attended the Series #1 workshops. The impact of the workshops in the students' academic and professional development is currently under analysis by the program's external evaluator. The students of Cohort #1 also attended activities organized by other training programs as recommended by UNE-WAMS: Nut and Bolts of Applying to Graduate and Summer Research Programs sponsored by URGREAT program. Deforestation and Climate Change Impacts in Bolivia, sponsored by AGMUS Student Research Development Center and the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? The PD has held meetings with public and private corporations, institutional support centers, sponsored research program staff and the SC & T administrators to set forth the objectives of the UNE-WAMS program. The PD also embarked on successful efforts to recruit and create awareness on the STEM and agricultural-related programs available at the SC & T. The PD and on-campus collaborators identified promising sophomore students at the SC & T to establish the first cohort to be impacted by the program described on the proposal. The students are currently receiving advice, mentoring, training and other opportunities in preparation for their STEM-related careers. The UNE-WAMS program was also presented at the recently University Adventure activity held this semester by UNE for visiting high school students. The PD offers an UNE-WAMS monthly report within the SC & T faculty meeting in which the most important and significant achievements of the program are announced.

        Publications