Fall 2002 Catalyst

Outreach Update

The UA Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program

http://www.biochem.arizona.edu/marc/

The UA MARC program provides unique research, mentoring, financial, and academic opportunities to upper-division underrepresented minority students who have interest and potential to pursue careers in biomedical research. Marc Tischler, Director, together with Co-Directors Maria Teresa Velez, Associate Dean of the Graduate College, and William Velez, Professor of Mathematics, and Program Coordinator Cindy Neal, form the team that oversees this successful program. Following an initial 3-year award, the program was awarded a 5-year, $1.6 million renewal.

The need for such a program is great. Although UA has made excellent strides in recruiting and graduating underrepresented minority students in the last ten years, there is much more we can do, given the size of both the Hispanic and Native American population in Arizona and the research training excellence of The UA. The pool of underrepresented minority students who enter the sciences, have the grades necessary to qualify for research programs, and graduate with the grade point average and skills necessary to pursue graduate education in the biomedical field, remains alarmingly small. Too many minority students drop out altogether, change majors, or graduate in the sciences with GPAs that are not competitive enough to allow them to enter graduate school at major institutions. In the past five years, an average of only 30 underrepresented minority students per year in the 10 majors affiliated with the MARC program (Biochemistry, Chemistry, General Biology, Mathematics, Microbiology, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Nutritional Sciences, Physiological Sciences, Psychology, and Speech & Hearing Sciences), have finished their bachelor's degree with a grade point average of 3.5 or above. Many of these outstanding students, who would be welcomed by major graduate programs, have not chosen to go into research careers, preferring to pursue the better-known opportunities provided by health care professions.

UA MARC trainees are a select group, chosen for their grades (minimum GPA of 3.0), research interest, and potential, from an eligible pool of honors underrepresented minority students in biological sciences and mathematics. Trainees generally spend four semesters and two summers in the program and are provided with tuition and fees, an annual stipend, and support for travel to meetings. Prior to entering the program, students are assisted in identifying a UA laboratory in which they receive training. Outstanding faculty from the College of Science, College of Medicine, and College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, with active and well-funded research programs, provide research guidance and intensive mentoring. Faculty participants are expected to have training experience with undergraduates and commitment to training minority students. The program director and co-directors also provide mentoring. Trainees interact with minority graduate students in the sciences. Through the UA MARC Seminar Series, trainees meet outstanding scientists, especially minority researchers, from other institutions. Trainees take a Biomedical Ethics course presented by Michael Cusanovich; a scientific writing and research presentation course; attend national scientific meetings; seek summer extramural opportunities; present posters at campus research fairs and national conferences; and participate in a GRE preparation course and workshops on the graduate application process.

Since its inception in June 1999, the program has received 63 applications and provided positions for 26 students with an average GPA of 3.42. These program matriculants have represented a diverse group of majors including Biochemistry (6), Chemistry (3), General Biology (4), Mathematics (2), Microbiology (1), Molecular & Cellular Biology (10) and Psychology (1) [note that some trainees had double majors]. Twelve trainees are currently participating in the program. Of the 14 trainees who have left the program, 5 are in graduate programs at UC San Diego, Berkeley, and UT Southwestern, 2 are in medical school, 1 in dental school, 3 in post baccalaureate "bridge" programs at Mayo Graduate School and the NIH, and 1 is conducting research in Peru for a year. While in the program, 13 trainees have taken advantage of extramural research opportunities. Five of these trainees were selected to programs in other countries, including 4 through BRAVO in Australia, France, Japan and Peru, and the fifth in Mali, West Africa through a Fogarty International Research Training Program. Within the United States, trainees have attended programs at UC San Diego (2), Johns Hopkins, the NIH (2), Notre Dame, Kennedy Space Center, and Emory University.

The biggest problem the program faces is the relatively low number of applications received annually. Reasons for the low number of underrepresented minorities who can apply with competitive grade point averages are varied. There is often inadequate preparation in mathematics and science in the public schools, especially in rural areas, and a lack of realistic expectations of the pace and level of work required in a highly competitive Research I university. Students fail to seek proper advising, leading them to miss prerequisites and the appropriate sequence for higher division science courses. Many minority students in the biological sciences are dispersed among large departments in several colleges, creating a lack of a natural support system for minority students. There is a low number of minority faculty, in the biological sciences, who can serve as role models and provide inspiration. Finally, the financial need of many students requires them to work outside the university to support themselves. The issue of financial need sometimes includes students both supporting themselves and their families, and often is a major contributor to undermining their academic success. Hence students are unable to achieve a level of success in their first two years to make them eligible for the MARC program.
To address this problem we are developing "pre-MARC" activities.

One new initiative is the MARC tutoring program. This will provide assistance to students enrolled in calculus, biology, general chemistry and/or organic chemistry who are potential future applicants to the program. The advantage over existing programs is that the students see the same tutor each time to establish a rapport and are tutored in an intimate environment, by appointment only, without disruptions from "drop-in" students. Only seniors, graduate students or research associates are selected as tutors for the program.

Last year, two new science clubs were initiated - Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and African-Americans in Life Sciences (AALS). These clubs have individual as well joint activities. Club members are invited to enroll in the MARC seminar series that is offered for credit. These clubs can be a valuable link to freshman and sophomore students who might be future applicants to the MARC program. Through club activities and via interaction with junior and senior students, we can encourage students to take advantage of tutoring programs, to seek advising and mentoring, and to interact with faculty.

Finally, a third way to reach students is through a colloquium on Careers in Science and Math for Minority Professionals that is offered for incoming freshmen during the New Start Program and also during the academic year. These colloquia provide a mechanism for close interaction with minority students on a weekly basis. We, in fact, already have had two former students from these colloquia become MARC trainees.

Thus, the MARC program is a selective and prestigious undergraduate minority program at UA. It is the "carrot" that encourages lower-division students to do well academically, and the conduit that prepares outstanding minority students to pursue careers in biomedical research.

Biological Sciences West
P.O. Box 210088 ·Tucson, AZ 85721-0088
Tel: (520) 621-9185 FAX (520) 621-9288
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
The University of Arizona
Updated June 1, 2004

http://www.biochem.arizona.edu/
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cherylr@u.arizona.edu