Bridges To the Doctorate Program

Shiva P. Singh, Ph.D.

Division of Minority Opportunities in Research

National Institute of General Medical Sciences

National Institutes of Health, USDHHS

July 25, 2008

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Outline of Presentation

• Overview of Bridges to the Doctorate Program (PAR-07-410)

• Guidance for Bridges to the Doctorate Program Development

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Bridges Program Goals

An institutional program funded by NIGMS and NCMHD that is designed to increase the number of master’s degree students from underrepresented groups and/or health disparities populations (URMs) who transfer and complete the Ph.D. degree in biomedical and behavioral sciences.

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The Bridges Program Emphasizes:

Institutional Focus: impact on Bridges and non-Bridges students alike so more students transfer from the master’s degree institution to the Ph.D. degree-granting institution.

Partnership of master’s degree institutions with the Ph.D. degree-granting institutions

Program with well-integrated developmental activities that will provide URMs with the necessary academic preparation and skills to enable their transition and successful completion of the Ph.D. degree in biomedical/behavioral sciences.

Clear Expectations

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• Purpose: To facilitate a seamless transition of targeted

students from the master’s degree institution to the Ph.D. degree-granting institution in biomedical/behavioral sciences

• Up to three (3) institutions in the partnership, including the applicant institution, unless strongly justified otherwise

• An institution may participate in more than one Bridges to the Doctorate partnership if strongly justified by the potential to magnify the programs’ and institution’s outcomes

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• Students from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral research enterprise of the nation and/or populations disproportionately affected by health disparities (targeted groups). Nationally, these groups include, but are not limited to, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans (including Alaska Natives), Natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands, and/or rural Appalachians.

• Must be U.S. citizens or non-citizen nationals or permanent residents.

• Must be matriculated full-time in master’s degree program in biomedical/behavioral science fields at the partner master’s degree institution.

(Students who receive support in the form of salaries/wages)

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• • Student Selection

  • Institution’s responsibility to establish student qualifications

• • Describe the criteria for selection and retention of Bridges students into the program

• • Critical Mass

• • 6-8 Bridges students in the program, each year

• • 3 Bridges students from each master’s degree institution

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• • • Baseline Data & Goals to Improve

    • Effective Partnerships

    • Strong Pool of Targeted Students

    • Well-integrated Student Development Activities year-round

    • Strong Institutional Commitment

    • Sound Evaluation Plan

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Baseline

• The baseline is a starting point; it serves as a guide to capacity,

and is necessary to gauge the impact of the program. For example,

an increase of 100% on a base of 1 is not nearly as impressive as if

it were on a base of 10.

• Usually it’s an average data over a 3-5 year period

Measurable Objectives

• These are brief (and focused) statements of end results –

connected to the long-term goal. They can be qualitative and

quantitative, but must be measurable.

• They are not a means to an end, or a checklist of “to do” list.

• The activities proposed are the means to achieve your goals and

objectives.

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Examples of Baseline Data & Measurable Objectives

An application proposes to increase the number of master’s degree students who transfer to Ph.D. degree programs in biomedically relevant sciences

• • How many and what percent of its students currently transfer to Ph.D. degree -granting institutions in biomedically relevant disciplines? (baseline)

  • What is the proposed number and percentage of students who will transfer to Ph.D. degree -granting institutions in biomedically relevant disciplines during the grant period (measurable objective)

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Examples of Baseline Data & Objectives, cont.

Institutional Baseline:

Out of a total of 40 master’s degree students (60% non-URM and 40% URM), 9 non-URMs (37.5%) and 4 URMs (25%) actually transfer to Ph.D. degree programs in biomedically relevant disciplines per year (average data from 2004-2007).

Institutional Objective:

The URM transfer in biomedically relevant disciplines will increase from the current rate of 25% to 37.5% (from an average of 4 to 6 students per year) by the fourth year of the grant award.

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Examples of Baseline Data & Objectives, cont.

Bridges Baseline on Students Transfer - An average of 4 out of 8 (50%) Bridges students in the program transferred to Ph.D. degree programs in biomedically relevant disciplines per year (average data from 2004-2007).

Objective - The transfer of Bridges students to Ph.D. degree programs in biomedically relevant disciplines will increase from the current rate of 50% to 75% (from an average of 4 to 6 students per year) by the fourth year of the grant award.

Bridges Baseline on Degree Completion - An average of 2 out of 4 (50%) transferring Bridges students completed the Ph.D. degree in biomedically relevant disciplines per year (average data from 2004-2007).

Objective - Bridges students’ Ph.D. degree completion in biomedically relevant disciplines will increase from the current rate of 50% to 75% (to an average of 4.5 graduates per year) by the fourth year of the grant award.

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• Clearly stated goals, and measurable objectives relative to the baseline and in context of NIH expectations

• Must improve on the previous record and make substantial progress towards meeting the NIH expectations during the next 5 years

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• Institutional

  • Increase in the institutional transfer of targeted students (Bridges & non-Bridges) to Ph.D. degree programs in biomedically relevant sciences by 50% in five years

• Bridges

• • Increase in the transfer of Bridges students to Ph.D. degree programs in biomedically relevant sciences (75% in five years)

• • Increase in the Ph.D. degree completion of transferring Bridges students (80% in five years)

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BASELINE DATA AND OBJECTIVES

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To Move the Institution Forward from Baseline to NIH Expectations

• Faculty from the two types of institutions jointly developing courses and curricula, including updating existing or developing new/advanced courses at the master’s degree institution

• Faculty from the doctorate institution serving as visiting lecturers, offering lectures and/or laboratory courses at the master’s degree institution

• Faculty from the doctorate institution providing mentored research experiences to Bridges students, including the summer research internships, and serving on their thesis advisory committees

• Fostering research capacity of the master’s degree institution via research collaborations

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• Allowing Bridges students to take some courses, and complete part of their master’s thesis research at the doctoral institution

• Providing Bridges students access to computer and library facilities, seminars, and workshops, etc., at the doctoral institution

• Establishing a mentoring and academic counseling program for master’s students with faculty at the doctoral institution

• Advanced or special courses and scientific research conferences for Bridges faculty from the master’s degree institution

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Strong commitment to the goals of the proposed program from all participating institutions, including commitment to:

• • Provide the institutional data on the transfer of URMs and non-URMs in biomedically relevant sciences

• • Provide the data on transfer and Ph.D. degree completion by Bridges students in biomedically relevant sciences

• • Track Bridges students over a ten-year period as they progress through the pipeline

• • Institutionalize the most effective activities supported by the Bridges program

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• Purpose: Provide information useful to the applicant and the partner institutions for improving the program, and for institutionalizing the most effective activities supported by the Bridges program.

• A sound evaluation plan, with timeline, that’s in-line with measurable goals and objectives

• Identify the selected evaluator and include his/her biosketch

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• Consortium agreement between the master’s and Ph.D.

degree-granting institutions define the participating institutions’

respective roles in administering the Bridges program.

• The application must include a letter from each collaborating

institution signed by the appropriate institutional officials and

program director/program coordinator, acknowledging participation

in the program. These letters must also include the following:

“THE APPROPRIATE PROGRAMMATIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL

OF EACH INSTITUTION INVOLVED IN THIS GRANT APPLICATION ARE AWARE

OF THE NIH CONSORTIUM GRANT POLICY AND ARE PREPARED TO

ESTABLISH THE NECESSARY INTER-INSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENT(S)

CONSISTENT WITH THAT POLICY.”

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• The program provides support for student, faculty, and institutional development activities

• Budget must be reasonable, well documented, and

fully justified and commensurate with the scope of

the proposed program

• Duration: up to five years

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Guidance for Bridges to the Doctorate Program Development

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Develop a Plan

• Read the FOA and F&Qs

• Conduct an institutional assessment and gather baseline data: how many transferring/graduating with Ph.D., why not more transferring/graduating? what can change so more will transfer/graduate?

• What are the institutional needs?

• What is your long range goal?

• What are your measurable objectives?

• What activities will help your institution achieve these objectives

• How will you evaluate your program outcomes?

• Follow all of the instructions in writing the application!!

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• Project Summary, & Performance site (s)

• Facilities & other Resources

• Key Persons and their Biographical Sketches

• Budget

• Research Plan:

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Research Plan:

• • (Introduction)

  • Specific Aims and Measurable Objectives

  • Background and Significance: Institutional & student data; vision and anticipated value

  • Preliminary Studies or Progress Report: Specific Outcome Data & Impact on the Institution

  • Research Design & Methods:

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Research Design & Methods:

• • • PD, PCs, and Program Faculty

• • • Developmental Activities:

• • • • The rationale and detailed description

      • Who will implement and the timeline

      • Possible pitfalls and alternative approaches

    • Responsible Conduct of Research

• • • Evaluation Plan

• • • Consortium Agreements

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Presentation of Data

• Present data in figures, graphs, tables or text

• Place figures, tables, and graphs close to where they are referred to in the text

• Make all figures, tables, and graphs clearly legible

• Avoid irrelevant information

• Do not use the Appendix to circumvent the page limitations of the Research Plan

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Common Reasons for Failure

• Missing or inadequate baseline data

• Lack of clear and well-defined measurable objectives

• Lack of adequate progress

• Activities poorly related to the objectives

• Poorly developed or missing evaluation plan

• Lack of institutional commitment or support

• Lack of coordination with other institutional programs aimed at accomplishing similar goals

• “Program-centric” application vs. institutional application

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• Institutional baseline data on enrollment and transfer of URM & non-URM students in biomedically relevant disciplines

• Bridges baseline data on the transfer and Ph.D. degree completion by the targeted students

• Clear statement of program goals, specific aims, and measurable objectives relative to the baseline

• Detailed progress report, if applicable

• PD/PI, Coordinators, and program faculty with appropriate training and experience

• Detailed description of developmental activities

• Sound evaluation plan (see for example, oerl.sri.com/ and )

• A plan for training in responsible conduct of research

• Evidence of strong institutional commitment

• Consortium Agreement with “specific language”

• A well justified budget that is commensurate with the scope of the proposed program

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BASELINE DATA AND OBJECTIVES

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