Providing the Pathway to Success for Graduate Education: Undergraduate Research
Abstract
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) lies along the U.S.-Mexico border and has one of the largest Hispanic student populations in the country. Since 2002, the faculty of Geological Sciences have provided research opportunities for undergraduate students with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) program. The program, called Pathways Research Experience Program (PREP), funds stipends, which allows undergraduate students to work closely with a faculty mentor and participate in workshops on applying to graduate schools, obtaining financial aid, and establishing effective study habits. Our overall goal is to mentor students through an undergraduate degree in geosciences and prepare them for graduate education. Student research has covered a wide range of geoscience topics: paleontology, structural geology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, seismology, and geomicrobiology, with students presenting results at national meetings including the Annual Meetings of the Geological Society of America and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences, as well as research expos at UTEP. Students are selected for the program based on GPA, letters of recommendation, and a research proposal, and they must maintain good academic standing during their tenure as a PREP fellow. Since its inception (Spring 2002), 21 students have participated in the program, which has included 13(62 percent) women and 12(57 percent) Hispanics. Of these 21 students, 13 have graduated. Of the 13, 5 have continued onto graduate programs at other institutions and 2 have remained at UTEP, thus highlighting that to build a pipeline of students willing to obtain an advanced degree, a structured research experience must be a key component.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUFMED31B1204M
- Keywords:
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- 0800 EDUCATION;
- 0810 Post-secondary education;
- 0855 Diversity