The University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) STEP Program: an initiative to encourage the participation of Native Americans in the sciences

The goal of the UMM STEP program is to increase the number of graduates in STEM fields through innovative curricular, recruiting and mentoring strategies. A unique focus of the UMM STEP program is increasing the number of Native American science majors. The STEP program fosters a summer research environment where peer interaction and mentoring creates a web of support. To do so we will establish a supportive and fulfilling pipeline that: 1) Identifies Native American students and involves them in research while they are high school; 2) Mentors and prepares participants for university academics the summer before their freshman year; 3) Provides a complete tuition waiver, mentoring and a support network throughout their undergraduate career; and 4) Involves participants in an active and dynamic summer undergraduate research environment where under-represented individuals are in the majority. The third and fourth components of this pipeline are in very good shape. The Morris campus was originally established as an Indian School in 1887. When the federal government deeded the Indian school campus to the University of Minnesota a stipulation was that Native American students attend the college for free. At present, 196 Native Americans are enrolled at UMM (50 are STEM majors). The UMM STEP research experience provides the unique opportunity to interact with a scientific community that both breaks down a number of traditional barriers and aids in the maturation of these students as scientists. In Summer 2008, 4 students were involved in summer research and in 2009 seven Native American students participated. Early efforts of the UMM STEP program are encouraging. UMM Admissions staff used the UMM STEP program to recruit Native American students and the P.I. phoned “uncommitted admits”, visited reservations and hosted reservation student visits. The result was an increase in freshman Native American Science majors from 7 in Fall 2007, 15 in fall 2008 and 20 in fall 2009. Overall, Native American Science majors increased from 33 (2007) to 39 (2008) and now 50 (2009). One UMM STEP participant from summer of 2008 graduated and is now in the University of Wisconsin Pharmacy Program. The biggest challenge to date for the UMM STEP program is making contact with rising junior and senior High School students. As a result, the envisioned UMM STEP “pipeline” remains without a solid foundation. Strategies employed to resolve this situation include: 1) writing to all educators with announcements and advertisements for summer opportunities for High School Juniors, 2) contacting alumni who educators in school districts with a significant number of Native American students, 3) utilizing the UMM STEP review board to make additional contacts in reservations, and 4) bringing UMM STEP students to High Schools to talk about their experiences and answer questions about UMM. This research is funded by the NSF STEP program (NSF/DUE-0653063).