2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A Research Experiences and Mentoring (REM) program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) was developed to provide summer research and mentoring opportunities to underrepresented minority (URM) and non-traditional community college students. The goal of the program was to introduce URM and non-traditional students to STEM research opportunities they are not traditionally exposed to through the Membrane Science and Technology (MAST) NSF Industry/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC). The NSF-REM initiative also seeks to provide post-program mentoring not found in typical Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs. The program mirrored a traditional REU 10-week summer experience plus additional professional development mentoring during the following academic year. During the summer, the community college students in the REM program were paired with students from a parallel REU program to work closely together under the same faculty member. Constant collaboration between the students allowed for peer mentoring as the students developed their ability to conduct complex experiments and communicate their results. Post summer program mentoring sessions consisted of speakers from both academia and industry, informal career and research guidance, and a trip to a national conference in Washington D.C. where the students presented their summer research at a poster presentation. Both REM and REU programs along with the faculty advisors contained strong representation of URM groups. All seven REM students were from URM groups, including five women. This diverse community and heavy interaction between the REM and REU programs fostered the self-efficacy of students in both programs. Overall, great improvement in the technical knowledge, ability to conduct and communicate a research project, and desire to pursue a career in STEM was observed in all students over the course of the both the 10-week summer program and post-program mentoring. This was particularly evident among those that presented their work at the national conference, including one student who won second place for best poster. Feedback from mentoring sessions indicated students and their families were more knowledgeable about and open to different types of STEM career paths, particularly research and graduate school. Of the seven students, three have joined new research groups or are continuing to actively pursue research, and three others will transfer to the University of Arkansas following completion of their associate degrees.