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Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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4

PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)

Each consortium must have a set of "non-negotiable" program elements that will form the educational core of the National Scholars Program—mentoring, academic advisement, research participation, structured teaching, prefreshman summer bridge programs, and enrichment. Enrichment encompasses a range of activities such as travel to professional society meetings, workshops, and public service that can enrich the educational program and enhance achievement. Other enrichment activities may be determined by each consortium site.

Development of the educational elements of each National Scholars consortium should be guided by two principles. The first is academic excellence. The National Scholars Program should be identified first with high academic performance and then as a program to foster minority achievement. Second, faculty must be involved in all aspects of the development and implementation of the program. They must participate fully in teaching, research, mentoring, academic advising, and interactions with other partners in the consortium.

INTRODUCTION

Following two decades of investing in efforts to diversify the scientific and engineering work force, there is a general sense of disappointment about the lack of significant improvement in the numbers of underparticipating minorities earning Ph.D.s (AAAS 1993; NSF 1994a, 4-6). Despite the slow progress in Ph.D. attainment, there have been successes. A number of promising program models and strategies have been developed to retain minorities in the science and engineering pipeline. More than 40 precollege science programs, whose students are promising candidates for a National Scholars Program, have been established to motivate and prepare minority youth to pursue science and mathematics fields in college. Moreover, much has been learned from these and other successful efforts. Drawing from this knowledge base and our collective experience, we have proposed a comprehensive strategy for the training and education of underparticipating minorities in academic content areas that will lead to the acquisition of doctoral degrees in mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering.

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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Two principles should guide the development of a National Scholars Program. First, we advocate an honors approach, one that focuses on a subset of talented students to assure that they will excel. By excel we mean achieving at a level so as to be recognized as among the very best students at a college or university. Passing certain courses and graduating are significant accomplishments, but they do not necessarily signal high academic achievement or equip students to be successful in a challenging doctoral program. A National Scholars Program is intended to exemplify academic excellence. It should identify talented, well-prepared students who will be dedicated and highly motivated in their academic pursuits. They, in turn, will be supported and nurtured in a demanding academic curriculum.

The second principle is the involvement of faculty in all aspects of the development, implementation, and leadership of a National Scholars Program. We urge this not just as a matter of academic credibility but also in terms of a discipline, department-centered approach. When we speak of a National Scholars Program, in reality we mean an educational process that is centered around teaching and research carried out by faculty, not a special program with separate staff that is distinct from the academic departments. In "Studying Students Studying Calculus," Uri Triesman points to past student affirmative action programs staffed by "very caring people . . . devoting their professional lives to helping minority students avoid failure, "[b]ut hav[ing] very little, if any connection to the faculty" (Treisman 1992). He concludes that such programs— coupled with the creation of remedial courses leading to nowhere—were not producing math and science majors.

Each consortium should provide a set of "non-negotiable" program elements that will form the educational core of a National Scholars Program. None of these is novel or revolutionary, and some are even regarded as commonplace. Nonetheless, all would benefit from careful consideration of how they can be most effectively carried out and what they can realistically be expected to accomplish. In this chapter we explain how we think these program elements should be implemented, and, in so doing, we are speaking about the quality and content of the educational experiences of students. Through this commentary, the distinctive character of a National Scholars Program will become evident.

NATURE OF THE UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

A prerequisite for a National Scholars consortium is a strong academic program. We expect the participating undergraduate institutions to have high quality academic programs in mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering. By strong academic program we mean that the undergraduate program should afford students challenging opportunities to develop the intellectual skills and knowledge foundation that a department's faculty determine to be necessary for competency in the discipline. Departmental faculty should articulate clear pedagogic goals for the teaching program, including explicit agreement about what is expected of the students. The disciplinary departments would be expected to provide appropriate support structures to assist all students in meeting the high academic standards established by the institution. In other words, it would be useful to look at the department as a developer of talent rather than as a gatekeeper to the profession.

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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The goal of the Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program (BUSP) at the University of California at Davis is to increase substantially the number of underrepresented minority students who are strong candidates for graduate and professional study in the biological sciences. Prior to BUSP, minority students who began study in the biological sciences were far less likely than other students to complete their degrees in these disciplines. Among those who did succeed, the proportion who attained a 3.0 GPA was less than one-half that of non-minority students, thus effectively precluding them from pursuing advanced study in these fields. Poor performance in general chemistry and mathematics appeared to be a major cause of the high attrition. Specifically, it was determined that "general chemistry and calculus courses act as gatekeepers to successful pursuit of biology studies" (Villarejo and Tafoya).

BUSP was initiated on the premise that a solid academic foundation and positive experience at the university in a student's early years would provide a platform on which to build future academic success. BUSP offered a highly structured program that consisted of a prefreshman summer program; an academic component that incorporated (1) a pre-chemistry class, (2) workshops for students enrolled in general chemistry, (3) a two-quarter course entitled "Opportunities and Issues in the Life Sciences" (intended to maintain interest in and motivation to pursue biology and supplementary calculus workshops); and (4) an opportunity to work in a research laboratory starting in the student 's freshman year. Strong advising complemented the academic component.

Early evaluation findings suggest that BUSP has accomplished its goal. Compared to a similar group of students before the program began, 36 percent of the BUSP students were found to have completed general chemistry with a grade of B or better while only eight percent of the pre-BUSP students did the same. This was a fourfold improvement. The overall performance of BUSP graduates who earned their B.S. degrees was significantly better than pre-program students. Forty-three percent of BUSP graduates earned a GPA higher than 3.0 while none of the students in the control group did so.

Effective teaching in the undergraduate program would be expected. Ideally, the most talented teachers would be actively involved in the introductory (freshman and sophomore-level) courses. Exposing the best faculty to students early in their undergraduate educations can motivate and strengthen student determination to pursue a career in science and engineering.

"NON-NEGOTIABLE" PROGRAM ELEMENTS

The educational elements that each consortium site should provide include prefreshman summer bridge programs, mentoring, academic advisement, research participation, and enrichment. Most of our discussion pertains to the undergraduate component of a National Scholars Program, although some applies specifically either to the graduate level or to all levels, as in mentoring. At times we are very specific about how we believe these activities should be implemented, but our intent is not to be

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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prescriptive. Rather we wish to share our thinking about what works and why. Examples are highlighted to illustrate possible options.

Prefreshman Summer Bridge Program

High school seniors who are accepted in the National Scholars Program will be required to participate in a prefreshman summer bridge program at their undergraduate schools. The rationale being that attrition is highest in the first year of college (NSF 1992a, 4; Seymour and Hewitt 1994, 3; Astin 1993). Because most students, particularly minority youth, are not psychologically prepared to tackle the new experiences in college and lack a good understanding of the demands they must face, the National Scholars Summer Bridge Program is intended to acculturate students into the academic life of their college or university. It should ease the transition from high school to college and enable students to get off to a fast start in their academic programs.

Bridge programs for high achieving minority youth share certain common elements. One is course work. Course work is a useful part of a bridge program but is generally not intended to remedy academic deficiencies. Students who are admitted to the National Scholars Program should not be deficient in the sense that they have not mastered the material in high school, although some may not have not been exposed to certain material. This is an important distinction, and one that is especially pertinent to minority students who may be exceptionally talented but have attended substandard secondary schools.

Mathematics is required in all summer bridge programs. Students study either precalculus or calculus, depending on their performance on placement tests administered by the institution. Most of the classes emphasize problem solving because students may have had little or no experience in problem solving. In some instances, problem solving may be coordinated with topics in the basic science classes. Most bridge programs offer computer applications classes, and some include time management and study skills.

The question of whether students should be accelerated and permitted to enroll in more advanced mathematics classes as freshmen may warrant discussion. We look at two schools of thought. In some programs, there are two groups of students: those who have had two years of calculus in high school and performed well on the Advanced Placement Exam, and those who need to fill in a small gap to ensure they are fully prepared to begin calculus. In these programs, all students are required to enroll in the same level calculus class because it is considered important for everyone to complete the calculus sequence as it is taught at those institutions. In other programs, students are permitted to enter a more advanced mathematics class after completing the summer program.

Effective bridge programs should involve the disciplinary departments. A research component can assist in bringing students into the culture of their major departments. Strong teachers are essential. The PRISM-D program at Clark Atlanta arranges for a highly regarded mathematics professor to teach the summer class, with that same faculty member continuing as the freshman calculus teacher for the PRISM-D students. Various motivational and information activities, including seminars with guest speakers, are provided to students with career exploration being a common topic. All summer programs offer a variety of

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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social activities intended to foster relationships among students and faculty.

Mentoring

Although mentoring has become a popular educational strategy, what is meant by mentoring is often not clear. Thus, it is useful to review various concepts of mentoring and then to spell out what we mean by mentoring in the context of a National Scholars Program. Mentoring has long been associated with Ph.D. study as an aspect of the apprenticeship model for research. In its 1990 publication Research Student and Supervisor, the Council of Graduate Schools adopted a narrow view in outlining good practices for faculty who supervise graduate students. It noted that "a peculiarly close relationship exists between the research student and supervisor. They start as master and pupil and ideally end up as colleagues" (CGS 1995, 1). Howard Adams offers a broader concept of a mentor: ". . . [T]he major professor of a doctoral student serves as that trusted coach who guides the student through the maze of a doctoral program." He distinguishes the concept of a mentor—"a teacher or adviser; one who leads through guidance"—from that of a role model—"a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others; one who leads through positive examples" (Adams 1992, 1).

In the personal statement that follows, Eugene Cota-Robles expands these definitions in two ways. First he describes mentoring as "special academic guidance, encouragement, and advice from a scholar in the sciences acting as a mentor," extending the mentor relationship to undergraduate students instead of restricting it to doctoral students involved in research. Second, he proposes the concept of a "role mentor," a union of Adams's definitions of mentor and role model. He calls for developing a relationship of "kindred spirits" in which the "role mentor" will identify talented students "with the special promise and interest needed to become a scientist/scholar. Once identified, a student is offered personal and academic encouragement, long-term career counseling, and even special experience in the field of study."

Cota-Robles and Adams both spell out reasons why mentoring is especially important for minority students. Cota-Robles points out that the talents of minority students are often not recognized by scientists and engineers from the larger society, hence the importance of increasing the number of role mentors who can recognize and nurture the promise of minority students. Adams emphasizes that "[f]or minority engineering and science students, isolation—being an outsider to the department (departmental resources, research/study groups, faculty counsel and advice, other graduate student colleagues)—is a major contributing factor in noncompletion of doctoral programs" (Adams 1992, 1-2).

The benefits of mentoring are widely recognized, as is evidenced by the National Science and Technology Council' s commitment to "develop a new program of Presidential awards for individuals and institutions that have outstanding records in mentoring students from underrepresented groups toward significant achievement in science, mathematics, and engineering" (OSTP 1994, 27). Most minority scientists and scholars credit their decision to pursue a career in science and their success to one or more individuals who took a particular interest in their professional and personal development (AAAS 1993). Many programs attempt to formalize a mentoring relationship as a means of nurturing minority students. The Summer High School Apprenticeship

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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Each year over 10,000 Americans earn doctorates in science and engineering. Very few of these individuals began their college studies with a goal of earning a Ph.D. Persons who choose to pursue science and engineering doctorates are talented, dedicated to their field, and diligent about their studies. In addition, they usually share a special experience. The experience they share is that they have been beneficiaries of "mentoring." They have received special academic guidance, encouragement, and advice from a scholar in the sciences acting as a mentor. This science scholar is often a liberal arts college faculty member/researcher.

Although students in the sciences may want mentoring, they often do not find it. Rather a mentor finds them. Sometimes, during a student 's undergraduate years, a faculty member identifies a talented student with the special promise and interest needed to become a scientist/scholar. Once identified, a student is offered personal and academic encouragement, long-term career counseling, and even special experience in the field of study.

Mentoring is almost always a voluntary activity. It is seldom done effectively as an assigned responsibility unless the scientist or engineering agrees to serve as a mentor.

Minority and women students have received the benefits of positive mentoring only infrequently. There are many reasons for this. Often a minority student's talent is not easily recognized by scientists and engineers from the larger society. Regardless of its subtle or overt nature, this oversight is a form of de facto discrimination. Such marginalization of minority students results in an obfuscation of their talents and promise to prospective mentors. I was personally fortunate in receiving mentoring from a perceptive graduate student during my undergraduate years. During my graduate study a young faculty member recognized my promise and offered to serve as my mentor. Most minority students are not so fortunate.

I believe that an increased presence of minority science and engineering faculty will result in an enhanced recognition of promising and talented minority students. Not all minority faculty will be effective mentors. Rather, the likelihood that kindred spirits will recognize one another is increased by a shared interest in science and engineering. Although role models are very important, what is absolutely needed are more individuals who can serve as "role mentors."

I am confident that mentoring strategies of the type developed by Howard Adams and Uri Triesman are having a positive impact. I am equally confident that this impact will not be extensive. Not until a real and visible cohort of successful minority science and engineering faculty are tenured in research universities will the various barriers to faculty diversity be overcome. I believe that an effort that embodies excellence such as I envision for the National Scholars Program is absolutely essential. Such a program, if properly supported and operationized, will have a high probability of increasing the number of role mentors on college faculties.

Eugene H. Cota-Robles

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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Research Programs—SHARP and SHARP PLUS—seek to sustain the relationships made during the summer research programs between high school students and mentors. The Meyerhoff Program for undergraduate minority students at the University of Maryland Baltimore County provides ongoing personal and academic support to its students from the day they enter, continuing communication with students even after they enter graduate school.

Mentoring is crucial at each and every stage of a student's academic career. Therefore, mentoring should be an integral part of National Scholars Program activities from the time students are first contacted in high school through their Ph.D. attainment and beyond. By involving faculty in the earliest aspects of the National Scholars consortium, such as recruitment and selection of students, nascent mentor relationships can be fostered. Such involvement represents a form of investment by the faculty in students rather than an assignment of students to faculty who may serve only as passive mentors.

To the terms role model and role mentor, we add the notion of meddler. We want faculty to meddle in a positive and appropriate fashion in the academic world of the student. A faculty meddler should check on the progress of undergraduates at appropriate intervals because factors that affect educational success should not be left to chance. In some instances a student who "falters a bit" may need assistance to head off what could become a full-blown problem. In other circumstances when personal or social concerns might impinge on academic progress, the mentor/meddler could step in and be a good listener as well as give a personal boost to the student.

A support structure should be in place to help the student through occasional difficult

The Meyerhoff Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County provides several tiers of mentoring to its undergraduate students. Freshmen are matched with mentors at the beginning of the academic year. These mentors—most of whom are African American Ph.D. scientists in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area—serve as "big brother" or "big sister" to students by providing advice and counseling throughout the students' tenure at the university. Freshmen and sophomores are advised by the academic department. In their junior year, they are assigned an academic adviser who is a department faculty member. Another category is the "academic mentor," a faculty member with whom the student interacts during a summer program or during the year.

The Meyerhoff Program provides a combination of formal and informal mentoring relationships that are tailored to student need and desire for a mentor relationship. The staff are available to provide personal and other kinds of support, and they monitor the student's progress. Mentoring is believed to be decisive in affecting success for some students, and even as students graduate and move into advanced study at other institutions, the program maintains contact with the student.

periods. The program should develop a network of support around each scholar that will maximize the academic achievement and career enhancement of the scholar yet remain sufficiently unobtrusive so as not to stifle individual development. Program staff should meet regularly with the freshman and sophomore scholars throughout each academic term, monitoring the student's progress in course work and integration into the activities of their major department. Initially, the meetings should be on a weekly basis. Over time, they can be scheduled in

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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accordance with the student's needs. This network will be developed by providing the opportunity for the scholar to interact with departmental faculty and students, but particularly with other scholars. The intent is to have the scholars make contact with the best science faculty and the best science students, especially with the more advanced scholars in their junior and senior years.

Academic Advising

The role of faculty in academic advising of college and university students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is an essential and major one. However, it is generally agreed in American higher education that faculty performance in this area is frequently a problem. Academic advisement must be more that a token examination of a student 's list of course work. Advisors should examine a student's prospective program in light of the student's achievements in past and current academic course work. Faculty should deal candidly with students and not hesitate to be intrusive in offering guidance to a student. Institutions participating in National Scholars Program consortiums should insist that faculty take their academic and career advising seriously. Moreover, institutions should develop procedures which acknowledge as well as reward outstanding faculty advisors.

Sound academic advisement is particularly critical early on in a student's college or university career. Scholars should be matched with the best advisors in the major department. Ideally, scholars would be matched with faculty advisors selected for their teaching excellence and for their ability and interest in assisting in the career development of students. These faculty academic advisors will be important members of the support network for each of the scholars, with their role, in some instances, being subsumed within the responsibilities of a mentor if the mentor were a faculty member in the department.

Research Participation

Participation in research must be an integral part of the National Scholars Program for all students, although its character will differ at different stages in a student's education. The recent National Science Education Standards study advocates handson, inquiry-oriented investigations as one effective strategy to motivate students and further science learning in young children, suggesting that "inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science" (NRC 1996, 31). Because most precollege research is not "real" research, the research participation experience for high school students should acquaint them with what goes on in a research environment and offer an opportunity to undertake a hands-on inquiry in a laboratory, industrial facility, or field setting that conveys the flavor of independent research without focusing on getting results.

Although most students lack the skills and knowledge to conduct research, an apprenticeship with a researcher will help them learn how to define problems, access information, and organize and examine that information. A number of agencies and organizations sponsor summer research opportunities for high school students. The SHARP program, for example, brings high school students into NASA field centers as apprentices so they can also acquire an understanding of NASA's mission and activities. The Leadership Alliance offers summer research programs at eleven

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
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universities, including Harvard University, Howard University, and Yale University. The program is presented as a summer research experience for highly motivated minority students and as a means for early identification of students.

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students may be introduced to the work of the disciplines through research. Participation in research— either with an on-campus investigator or as an off-campus intern—when coupled with a strong academic program is excellent preparation for the student's future education in graduate school. A positive, rigorous, and productive experience performing research can do more to develop a student' s scientific maturity and interest in a research career than the standard lecture or laboratory format alone. Furthermore, these summer research experiences are often the decisive factor in a student' s decision to pursue graduate or professional study.

At the undergraduate level, opportunities to participate in research during the academic year and over the summer are essential elements of a National Scholars Program, and scholars should begin participating in research as early as is reasonable. This will most likely be in the summer following their freshman year. During the academic year, the scholars' participation will be limited by their academic course commitments, but during the summer most of them will be able to devote full time to research, either at their home institution or at an external training site.

Since the ability of the host institutions to mount research efforts will vary greatly, the way in which scholars participate in undergraduate research during the year will also vary. At colleges that emphasize teaching, research participation by scholars may take the form of independent study research projects with close supervision by a faculty member. While many small colleges provide a superb intellectual background into the inquiry aspects of science, it is not common for them to have large research laboratories in which students may work. The model we propose for the National Scholars Program is patterned alter the highly successful undergraduate research participation programs used by liberal arts colleges such as Carlton, Oberlin, Spelman, and Morehouse whose highly motivated students have consistently gone into top Ph.D. programs.

The quality of the research experience is paramount. For students who are enrolled in colleges and universities at which faculty carry out significant laboratory research programs, undergraduates should be invited to participate as full members of the research team. This does not mean that the students are fully capable researchers. Although assigned to low-level tasks in the laboratory, they will be given the opportunity to learn and to demonstrate their capabilities and thus move up the hierarchy of the research team. In addition, the experience will allow them to acquire the ethos of the research community and to observe people who work hard and achieve results. If, however, a student is given "make-work," or the faculty researcher focuses only on the scientific work and does not devote attention to the student, then the experience may "turn the student off." How the student perceives his or her treatment in the research environment is crucial. This perception is more than an intellectual opportunity. It is also an interpersonal experience in the research setting.

There are other benefits to laboratory research. It is a very social activity. Scholars

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

will interact with and learn from the more senior members of the group. Also important is that the research group is a support group of individuals with similar career aspirations, with the more senior members serving as positive role models to the newer students.

When students from undergraduate colleges do research at a university, the experience becomes a link between undergraduate and graduate study. One important outgrowth will be the relationships developed between students and university faculty. Personal interactions in a research environment enable faculty to become aware of student potential and interest. Thus faculty have an in-depth opportunity to become acquainted with students, often becoming a student's strongest advocate in the admissions process.

There are a number of options for summer research experiences. The Minority Access to Research Career (MARC) programs customarily send their undergraduate students to do research at another institution for at least one summer for the purpose of broadening their educational experiences. For students from small colleges where faculty do not have large independent research programs, a summer research experience affords an opportunity for students to work in a large research laboratory. Research at a graduate institution provides students with a chance to be exposed to the graduate school environment and helps them decide if they wish to pursue further education.

Enrichment

Enrichment encompasses a range of activities that should be initiated and tailored according to the needs identified at the individual consortiums. Some of them may be prominent at a particular program site. Others may be low-profile, small-scale efforts, or the actions of a single individual. Building on the core elements described previously, taken in total, they will further define the character of a consortium program. The following are examples of activities that we characterize as enrichment, in contrast to the "non-negotiable" program elements: travel to scientific meetings, structured teaching, industry internships, tutorial assistance and study groups, service, workshops, visiting scientists seminar series, and application assistance.

Travel to Scientific Meetings

The scholars should be encouraged to participate in scientific and technical meetings and to take advantage of national, regional, and local opportunities to present the results of their research. Student meetings are often sponsored by local sections of professional societies and by national organizations such as SACNAS, NOBChE, and AISES. Undergraduates will benefit greatly from seeing other students involved in research training and will begin to internalize the notion that they are part of the process. In addition, attending a professional society meeting is an affirmation that one is or is becoming a scientist; it permits young scholars to identify with their discipline, gain experience in making public presentations, obtain information on career and study opportunities, meet potential mentors, and network with peers and faculty. For graduate students who are well along the educational track, attendance at professional meetings is essential.

Increasing attention is being devoted to the involvement of minorities in such meetings. Some associations already support travel for students and/or offer special

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

programs. Each National Scholars consortium should find ways to enable their undergraduate and graduate students to participate in scientific meetings and other professional activities and, where appropriate, to present the results of their research.

Structured Teaching

The role of teaching as a tool for improving the learning of the teacher should not be underestimated. Thus student participants in the National Scholars Program should be encouraged to take on a structured teaching responsibility at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. For undergraduates this teaching function can be a simple one that might involve assisting a graduate teaching assistant or, more interestingly, serving as an examiner for less advanced undergraduate students.

In American universities graduate student teaching responsibilities in the sciences and engineering seldom require students to develop a course syllabus. This activity is an intellectual challenge of the first order that graduate National Scholars should have the privilege to experience at least once during their term of graduate study. Assuming such a responsibility will help students prepare to face the challenges they will encounter in the world of work following their completion of graduate study.

Industry Internships

Summer internships in industry can provide students with an opportunity to broaden their experience and to widen their understanding of career options. The nature of the intrinsic differences among disciplines suggests that internship experiences will necessarily vary. In computer science, the match with industry is quite good, and in engineering, industrial experience is essential. In fields such as chemistry where employment pressures are high, exposure to industry would be helpful. However, we caution that such experiences should not take the form of a coop program at the graduate level, unless they are closely tailored to fit the student's program of research.

The National Physical Sciences Consortium channels financial support to graduate women and minority students who then work for the sponsoring employer during the summer. The NPSC advertises employment at major research laboratories and corporations as an opportunity to develop the students' ability to adapt to new environments, people, and technology; to work on multiple projects simultaneously and with diverse groups of people; and to be team players. Through the experience participants "can build networking with leading scientists from both major research laboratories and universities." Students see these internship opportunities as a ladder into employment in industry.

The process of graduate education is highly effective in preparing students for careers in academic research. At the doctoral level, students develop the skills necessary to carry out independent research. It is less effective, however, in preparing students for careers in other sectors of society. Broad trends indicate that a larger proportion of science and engineering doctorates will find employment in business and industry. For this reason, the COSEPUP committee concluded that opportunities for internships in off-campus settings for doctoral students

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

should be expanded and recommended that "[p]roject-oriented teams in corporations provide potential opportunities for collaborative interactions and exposure to challenging practical problems. Joint industry-university projects should be explored as part of some students ' preparation, with the possibility that students complete their dissertation work off campus. Such projects also acquaint faculty members with the needs and organizational cultures of nonacademic employers" (COSEPUP 1995, 78-79).

Tutorial Assistance and Study Groups

Ongoing tutorial assistance is important and necessary. Scholars should view such assistance not as remedial but as a performance-enhancing device. The first two years are the foundation for success in the physical sciences, and tutorials or study groups are an effective way to maximize understanding and, thus, performance. We use a broad definition of tutorial assistance that may range from small group study sessions to individual help from another student or a teacher.

Uri Treisman is recognized for his pioneering work on the use of study groups as an important adjunct to calculus classes. It has become the model for a number of programs across the country. Collectively they are known as Emerging Scholars Programs (ESP). Treisman's study group concept emerged from an informal observational study of African American and Chinese American undergraduates at the University of California at Berkeley. He found that Chinese American students formed informal study groups that were an efficient method of organizing the tasks involved in their calculus study. Furthermore, as the "groups facilitated the exchange of information" among members, the "exchange became a critical component of each student's mastery of calculus . . . . The most dramatic advantages of working groups were observed in the ways group members corrected misperceptions or errors in their strategies for working problems" (Treisman 1992). By contrast, African American students tended to study alone and did not seek assistance either from others or from their teaching assistants.

Emerging Scholars Programs are implemented as honors classes. They consist of intensive study sessions in which students are given a set of carefully designed, difficult problems that they work to solve, individually and as a group. One outgrowth of the study groups has been the formation of social relationships among students in the same discipline. Treisman points out that "it's important to be organized around the culture of science, not just ethnic identity." Students who are "marginalized miss out on important cues from faculty and other students about which professors to work with, which courses to avoid, and—later—where to publish papers, what meetings to attend, and what references they need for graduate schools or jobs" (Treisman 1994).

The results of these study group programs have been impressive. At the University of Texas at Austin, fewer than one-third of African American and Latino students who took calculus but did not participate in the study groups earned a grade of A or B. By comparison, 80 percent of the students participating in the Emerging Scholars Program achieved an A or B in calculus. Of the 20 ESP students who have graduated from the university, 75 percent graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.

A study group modeled after the Emerging Scholars Programs might be

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

effectively used in a National Scholars Program. It might be implemented through close adherence to the Treisman model or, more loosely perhaps, through clustering scholars in the same sections of science and mathematics courses so that group study with the assistance of a tutor is possible. There may even be points in a student's education when individual tutoring may be necessary in order to help that individual move past a particular and unique academic hurdle. We do not advocate ongoing and widespread tutoring because the National Scholars Program is not intended to be a remedial program. Rather we believe that a student may benefit from unique and occasional assistance, and that assistance should be available to him or her.

Service

Service to others can benefit both those who contribute as well as those who are the recipients, and we believe that a commitment to service should be built into the National Scholars Program within the context of the academic program. Activities should be synergistic to the goals of the National Scholars Program and viewed as career enhancement activities. One service responsibility should be mentoring. While all National Scholars should receive the benefits of mentoring, we believe that they, too, should serve as mentors. Graduate students should mentor undergraduate scholars, who, in turn, should act as mentors for high school youth. By being mentors, scholars can communicate their experiences to younger students and offer advice to help them cope with the demands of the program. Mentoring relationships also are a means to strengthen linkages among the various levels of a consortium. In a broader sense, a prominent justification for a National Scholars Program derives from the importance of minority Ph.D.s serving as role models and mentors for minority youth. Indeed, the culture of the National Scholars Program may be framed to value service.

Apart from mentoring, we caution that National Scholars should not be burdened with "too full a plate." The National Scholars Program will be academically demanding with rigorous classes and research activities. Scholars should not be excessively programmed. A service requirement should not be so strict as to risk taking time from central academic pursuits. Another consideration concerns imposing a requirement on minority students that is not a part of non-minority honors programs.

Workshops

Over the course of four undergraduate years, a student acquires, through informal conversations with peers and faculty members, a body of practical information that is important for survival and success in his or her undergraduate major and future research career. National Scholars will benefit by having this information early in their academic careers when it will be of most use in achieving academic success. This could be accomplished by a variety of activities, including the presentation of workshops by individuals or teams expert in the particular subject matter. These workshops might serve as a brief orientation to the college or university, the scholar's academic department, and the National Scholars Program, and as an introduction to the habits of the academic culture.

The College (or University) Departmental Environment. The intent of this workshop is to make the scholars aware of

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

"To whom much is given, much is expected" best expresses the rationale for the service component of the University of Maryland Baltimore County's Meyerhoff Scholarship Program. The Meyerhoff students, all talented African American undergraduates in science and engineering, benefit from the program which has created an environment that continually challenges and supports the students academically and otherwise. In turn, all Meyerhoff students are expected to provide service to others. A member of the Meyerhoff staff is responsible for organizing outreach activities for the students, including helping to identify opportunities for service. Many of the Meyerhoff students choose to tutor or to serve as mentors to boys and girls (often disadvantaged) in elementary, middle, or high schools in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. corridor. In addition, they are often invited to speak at school assemblies or commencements about the importance of academic success. Occasionally, the students arrange and participate in service activities independent of the Meyerhoff Program, such as the Habitat for Humanity.

Several Meyerhoff students have "adopted" a Baltimore area elementary school where, for example, in one year they met with all first through fifth graders as part of a motivational program, stressing the importance of staying in school and engaging the elementary students in a question-and-answer session in which the children were free to ask about anything. The assembly was followed by small group discussions in which the Meyerhoff students talked about the excitement of math and science.

Meyerhoff students planned a Black History Program at another primary school that focused on African American scientists, and two male Meyerhoff students worked with several fourth and fifth grade boys who had been disruptive in the classroom. In another instance, a group of eighth grade students in Prince George's County, Maryland, created the Black Male Achievement Program aimed at emulating the Meyerhoff Program. For the past three years, groups of these eighth graders have come to the UMBC campus to participate for a day in the Summer Bridge Program, interacting with Meyerhoff students and observing what awaits them in science and math at the university level.

the structure of the college or university and the scholar's major department, so that the student may take advantage of the services available from them and learn how to access them. This workshop could also present an overview of the student's academic major program and a rationale for its structure. The expectations which departments have for students majoring in their disciplines would be presented and discussed. Key faculty, staff, and students (other scholars and leaders of student organizations within the discipline) in the departments would be identified, so that the freshmen and sophomore scholars could begin to form support networks within their major departments.

Study Skills for Academic Excellence in the Physical Sciences. This workshop would initiate the scholars into the work ethic of the academic community. The time commitments required and the study skills necessary for academic excellence would be

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

The Mathematics Workshop Program at the University of California at Berkeley is intended to provide students with the skills to earn a final grade of A in the first semester of calculus and to gain a foundation in mathematics that will enable the student to continue to excel in second-semester and upper-division mathematics without the assistance of the program. It is designated as an honors program that is open to all students, although typically 80 percent are African American and Latino.

Workshop participants are organized into groups of five to seven students who work together for approximately two hours twice a week on worksheets containing carefully constructed, usually difficult problems. Workshop students are encouraged to discuss these problems and to assist each other in deriving solutions and proofs. A graduate student workshop leader generally observes the functioning of these small groups. By monitoring the discussions, the leader can determine how well each student has mastered key principles and can assist students (with a carefully planted hint or suggestion) to work their way through any difficulties they encounter. Workshop students are asked to demonstrate the skills that they will subsequently be asked to demonstrate on examinations.

The results of subsequent qualitative evaluations suggest that the workshops create academically oriented peer groups. Students come to prize success and work hard to achieve it. Typically they spend more time on mathematics than their non-workshop peers. In addition, students develop the capability to learn efficiently. They become connected to a social network of past and present workshop participants and, through them, to the wider college community. Such commitment to the institution has been found to be a critical characteristic of student persistence. Fullilove and Treisman conclude "that it is possible to create academically oriented peer groups and that their impact can be dramatic and quite powerful."

presented. Training in the effective use of the library as an academic tool would also be provided

Career Options within the Physical Sciences. A career options workshop would explore the range of career options within the physical sciences and engineering and the academic and research training necessary for leadership positions in these fields.

Visiting Scientists Seminar Series

A student-oriented seminar series would expose the scholars to a broad range of academic and industry leaders in scientific and engineering disciplines who could function as strong, positive role models. In addition, the seminar series would provide frequent opportunities for all scholars and faculty to get together, allowing for the development of esprit de corps. Inviting the speakers to stay for an extra day to meet with participants in the consortium—high school, undergraduate, and graduate students and faculty—will provide the opportunity for informal interaction and give young students an in-depth appreciation of what science and being a scientist entails. For more advanced students, the informal meetings will offer an opportunity for professional interaction with distinguished minority scientists. A Visiting

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

Scientists Seminar Series should be open to all students on campus, and, indeed, all students should be encouraged to attend.

The Phelps-Stokes Fund has sponsored a Faculty Mentor Program that identifies minority and women scholars who have a recognized successful record of commitment to the advancement of young students and scholars. The scholars are invited to participate as the Fund's Visiting Scholars at small colleges that have few minority or women faculty. Visiting Scholars are expected to spend one week at the host college, during which time they participate in the college's instructional and academic advising (mentoring) program, teach classes, and interact informally with students. Thus, students are afforded an opportunity to see the scholar as a practitioner as well a distinguished speaker.

Application Assistance

The faculty and student relationships developed among the undergraduate and graduate departments and institutions should make application to graduate school in the consortium a relatively smooth process. The graduate faculty will be knowledgeable about the interests and qualifications of the applicant who, in turn, will have a clear understanding of the expectations and interests of the graduate department. Undergraduates should be carefully counseled and provided with information that will enable them to decide which graduate department(s) will be the best match for them. Preparation for the GRE exam will build confidence in their capabilities to perform well on the tests.

More direct assistance will be needed for students who wish to consider graduate institutions in other consortiums. In those circumstances, the National Scholars Coordinating Council can act in a facilitating capacity by assisting students to make contacts with faculty and departments in other consortiums. Presumably, students will already have substantial knowledge about other graduate institutions as a result of their attendance at the annual National Scholars Conference and through their participation in scientific meetings.

Consideration might be given to a centralized application process such as the one sponsored by the Committee on Interinstitutional Cooperation (CIC), which includes representation from 15 Big Ten institution campuses. Through this process, a student prepares a single application and submits it to CIC. The application is then forwarded, free of charge, to as many as five schools designated by the student. Although the application process is centralized, the individual graduate schools maintain their autonomy in the admissions decision process. Project 1000 also sponsors a similar activity. Both CIC and Project 1000 were prompted to initiate a centralized application process to encourage minority students to apply to more than one or two graduate schools. This process might be especially useful in instances where a student wishes to apply to a graduate school in a different National Scholars consortium.

RECRUITMENT

Undergraduate Recruitment

Although we recognize and concur with the crucial need to expand the pool of well-prepared minority students, we also want to emphasize that there already exists a pool of talented minority high school students from which National Scholars may be recruited.

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

Application pressures are one indicator. In 1994, the second year of the SHARP PLUS program, 1,200 students applied for 200 openings. The Meyerhoff Program received 900 applications for 40 openings in the fall of 1995.

Existing programs such as MESA, SHARP, and SHARP PLUS have already identified and are working with minority high school students to interest them in science and engineering careers. In 1992 there were an estimated 60,000 middle and high school students participating in 28 programs. Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA)—perhaps the best known of such programs—was begun in California in 1970 and provides academic support, guidance, and other forms of supplemental support to increase the number of students prepared to pursue a mathematics-based course of study in college. In 1992-93 about 1,400 MESA students graduated from high school, and 80 percent of them went on to attend college. Other programs such as SHARP PLUS focus on a summer research experience with varying degrees of follow-up during the academic year. Essentially all of these programs are effective in acquainting students with and interesting them in science and engineering. A smaller number of these programs provide a comprehensive program of support that not only motivates students but also prepares them to succeed in challenging science and engineering programs in college.

These programs provide a readily available pool of talent from which National Scholars may be identified and recruited. For example, the SHARP and SHARP PLUS programs select about 400 students every year to participate in significant summer research activities at NASA field centers or on university campuses. A consortium could identify precollege programs in its region and provide information about the program to program directors. Colleges and universities could contribute to the preparatory programs by participating in career days, science fairs, or other activities intended to introduce students to what science is all about and to what scientists do. In turn, high school students could attend programs on college campuses to learn about college life and the National Scholars Program.

Recruitment to the National Scholars Program will also take place through linkages between the National Scholars Coordinating Council and national precollege science programs. The council's role would be to facilitate a flow of well-prepared students who are informed about and interested in entering the National Scholars Program.

It will also be appropriate to allow late maturing students who have not previously participated to enter the program. Some students may have applied to the program but were not accepted as freshmen because they were not fully qualified in some respect. In some instances, some highly able students may not be fully prepared to succeed in the freshman calculus program. Other students may not have devoted themselves to serious study until they entered college—our conception of the "late bloomer." Yet others may not have given serious consideration to pursuing a career in science or engineering or in doctoral study until they were already in college. If, after one or two years at a consortium institution, the student does obtain the necessary academic qualifications, then he or she may apply to the National Scholars Program at the end of the freshman or sophomore year.

Community College Bridge Programs

Although most students will enter the program as college freshmen, community

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×

college students comprise an important source of talent. Because minorities are more likely to attend two-year colleges than are other students, a high proportion of minority students attend community colleges (Chacon, Cohen, and Strover 1986; NCES 1992b; O'Brien 1992a). A consortia approach, through participation in a bridge program, is well-suited for increasing the number of talented and well-prepared community college students who transfer to four-year college science programs. Bridge programs should operate on the same principles and premises that govern the National Scholars Program, including faculty leadership and student participation in research.

For community college students who transfer to the National Scholars Program, a multicomponent workshop—The Research Enterprise—might be presented during the scholars' first week of their first summer in the program. Prior to the students' participation in laboratory research, under the direction of the faculty members throughout the rest of the summer, the trainees would be exposed to topics such as the philosophy and ethics of research; experimental design; the literature of the physical sciences, including computerized databases; and safety in the research laboratory.

In 1992 three two-year community colleges joined with California State University at Los Angeles to establish a bridge program to increase the number of well-prepared community college minority students who could transfer to four-year institutions and successfully complete a bachelor's degree in the biomedical sciences. The long-term goal is to increase the pool of talented minority students who enter and complete a Ph.D. degree in the biomedical sciences. The program trains four freshmen and four sophomores at each of the three community colleges. The Bridges to the Future Program includes a solid science curriculum that is enhanced through participation in seminars and workshops and strong research opportunities.

The program is coordinated by a biomedical faculty researcher at California State University who is assisted by an advisory committee, which includes a faculty member from each of the three community colleges and the chairs of the Cal State departments of chemistry and biology. Faculty-to-faculty interactions have been emphasized in establishing these institutional partnerships.

At each of the community colleges there is a Biomed Bridge Faculty Mentor or Coordinator responsible for the operation of the program at that campus. These faculty mentors or coordinators have been key to the success of the program, serving as advisors, mentors, and intermediaries between the institution and the Biomed Bridge Fellows at the community college. These individuals are committed to student success and have been selected because of their experience in student advising. Furthermore, chemistry faculty have been selected because success in freshman chemistry has traditionally been a major barrier to students pursuing science-based disciplines. These faculty mentors are talented teachers and are in the best position to monitor students ' academic progress and to suggest strategies to improve their success.

Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 31
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 32
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
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Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
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Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 35
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 36
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 37
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 41
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 42
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 43
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 44
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 45
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 46
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
Page 47
Suggested Citation:"4 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS)." National Research Council. 1996. The National Scholars Program: Excellence with Diversity for the Future - Program Design. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9106.
×
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