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5 PROGRAM DESIGN (PROGRAM ELEMENTS) Development elements of each of the educational National Scholars consortium should be guided by two principles. The first is academic excellence. The National Scholars Program should be identified first with ~. , . ~7 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. Each consortium should provide a set of"non-negotiable" program elements that will form the educational core of a National Scholars Program. These include a prefresh- man summer bridge program, mentoring, academic advisement, research participation? enrichment, and recruitment. In addition, we expect the participating undergraduate institutions to have high quality academic programs in mathematics, the physical · ~ ~ ~ sciences, and engineering. 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, intended to acculturate students into the academic life of their college or university, at their under- graduate 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. Elective bridge programs should involve the disciplinary departments, and a research component can assist in bringing students into the culture of their major departments. ~ ~ Most bridge programs offer computer applications cIasses' and some include time management and study skills. MENTORING Mentoring is crucial at each and everY stage of a student's ~s ~ academic career. Theret'ore' 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. ~ Howard Adams (1992) broadly defines a mentor as lithe major professor of a doctoral student serv[ing] as that trusted coach who guides the student through the maze of a
20 doctoral program." Furthermore? he distin- guishes the concept of a mentor--"a teacher or adviser; one who leads through guidance" from that of a role mociei "a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others; one who leads through positive examples" (p. I). 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 identi- fied, a student is offered personal and academic encouragement, long-term career counseling, and even special experience in the field of study" (see personal statement of Eugene Cota-Robles, NRC 1996a, 36~. 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 " [for 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" (pp. I-2~. To the terms role moclel 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. 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 stag should meet regularly with the freshman and sophomore scholars throughout each academic term' monitoring the students' progress in course work and integration into the activities of their major department. ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT Academic advisement must be more than 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. RESEARCH PARTICIPATION Undergraduate student participation in research either with an on-campus investi- gator 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. During the academic year? the scholars' participation will be limited by their academic course
21 commitments, but during the summer most of them will be able to devote full time to research an important experience because it is often the decisive factor in a student's decision to pursue graduate or professional study. 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. When students from undergraduate colleges do research at a university the experience undergraduate and graduate study. a, becomes a link between 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. open becoming a student's strongest . . . ~. - , ~ O advocate in the admissions process. ENRICHMENT Enrichment encompasses a range ot activities that should be initiated and tailored according to the needs identified at the individual consortiums. Examples of activi- ties that we characterize as enrichment include the following: travel to scientific meetings, structured teaching, industry internships, tutorial assistance and study groups, service, workshops, visiting scientists seminar series, and application assistance. UNDERGRADUATE RECRUITMENT We want to emphasize that there already exists a pool of talented minority high school students from which National Scholars may be recruited. 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 pro- grams. Recruitment to the National Scholars Program will also take place through linkages between the National Scholars Coordinating Council and national precollege science programs. It will also be appropriate to allow late maturing students who have not previously participated to enter the program. Although most students will enter the program as college freshmen, community college students comprise an important source oftalent. Minorities are more likely to attend two-year colleges than are other students (Chacon, Cohen, and Strover 1986: NCES 1992; O'Brien 1992). , A consortium 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 tour-year college science programs.
