Non Technical Summary
Minority enrollment in higher education is growing, however, there is still a definite gap in diversification within STEM professions. It has been suggested that one of the best approaches toward diversifying STEM professionals is retention of undergraduate students and providing support throughout their programs into graduation. Participation in undergraduate research programs allows for educational experiences and skills to shift to a more student focused and interest specific pathway. A SURE FIT is a 5-year program designed to offer an annual paid 6-week undergraduate summer research internship in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University for historically underrepresented students (n=9 annually, 36 total) from Texas State University (HSI; n=3), Prairie View A&M University (HBCU; n=3), and Texas A&M University (HSI; n=3). Each intern will be hosted by a research faculty member (n = 9 annually) at Texas A&M with projects largely focusing on priority area Animal Health and production and animal products. The cohort of interns will participate in a weekly learning community with industry professionals focused on professional development. At the conclusion of the six-week research intensive program, interns will present their data and summer experience at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course A SURE FIT Session. A SURE FIT is designed to provide underrepresented students with research and scientific communication knowledge to bridge the gap between industry careers and graduate programs. Further, this program will enhance faculty mentor knowledge in supporting and mentoring underrepresented student populations at Texas A&M.
Animal Health Component
Research Effort Categories
Goals / Objectives
A SURE FIT is a 5-year program that will provide paid internships annually to enable students to participate in summer undergraduate research internships in the Department of Animal Science at the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas. Each year, 9 students (3 from Prairie View A&M University, 3 from Texas State University, and 3 from Texas A&M University) will be selected, providing animal science internships for a total of 36 students from historically underrepresented student demographic populations. Each intern will be hosted by a faculty member at Texas A&M in project areas centered around the animal health and production and animal products priority area. Each cohort of interns will present their project results and internship experience summaries at the annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short course in a special A SURE FIT session. This program is designed to provide underrepresented students with research and scientific communication knowledge to bridge the gap between industry careers and graduate programs, and will also enhance faculty mentoring skills important for supporting these student populations.
The project leader team will conduct perception survey-informed recruitment?of students from Prairie View A&M, Texas State and Texas A&M universities for 6-week summer undergrad internships. 9 students per year for a total of 36 student interns, including 6 returning peer mentors, will be recruited over a 5 year period. Students will work on dedicated projects with faculty mentors and present their results at the annual Beef Cattle Short course.Students will participate in learning communities during their internships, and faculty will receive assistance and training in strengthening their mentoring skills according to a mentoring plan. An external evaluator will conduct formative and summative evaluation of the program - to enable continual improvement of the program each year and to support data collection and analysis that will support future sustainability of the program.