Since we are at a minority serving institution there are many programs in place at the University to address diversity and culture which is great for our students. We have started using mindfulness activities to address imposter syndrome in our weekly Friday meetings and this seems to be helping. But you are correct in that the students do lack confidence in their own abilities due to microaggressions throughout their life times. 

I would agree, John! As a first gen student, I was so thankful for the bridge program I was able to participate in as an Upward Bound student. This program shows the support necessary for students to be prepared for the next level. Thank you for the work you are doing as well!

That SAFE passage experience sounds phenomenal. What a great way of exposing students early to research and encourage them to further explore that on their own terms later. We have found that it is a bit intimidating for our average freshman to inquire about research opportunities, it takes them time, they may not feel ready, but it is also fear of trying something they may not feel they are ready and/or they have not found that spark of interest yet. Your summer program being a required step into the program makes that gentle push into research gentler. And as you said, it helps creating bonds within the cohort.

We have summer bootcamps (math and chemistry) for the entering cohorts (the week before classes start) but they are geared to improve fluency in those subjects, considering the wide range of preparation of the high school students coming into the program. It does help with the cohort bonding but I really like that idea of the summer rotations to get students start smoothly into the research. You mentioned that students spend 2+ hours with each of 4 faculty, I assume the majority spend much more time since that is a 8 day program? Or maybe they have common skills, ethical research conduct, etc.? 

Thanks Greg! It is indeed inspiring stories like Dean's that make all we do worthwhile. As he said in the video, he came into college with only one goal in mind: going into medical school. Now he is enjoying doing research. He will spend his summer at UNC-CH under the SPIRE summer program and he is really flourishing in many levels. He has found friends in COMPASS2, has a terrific relationship with his mentor, has enjoyed every minute of the conferences he attended, especially his first in person NC Academy of Science meeting, and is helping him to see that he belongs into STEM. We have been laser focused on this kind of student, which in our institution is quite common, who has not had much exposure to scientists or have had the opportunity to conduct scientific experiments or part take of research projects. If they are good students, they have been advised to go into health careers. They need information, they need to see others like them doing science, they need to gain confidence. It is in them, and we are just helping them discover their potential and providing opportunities.

We have work on the pipeline in this rural region of North Carolina. I am the district director of the NC Student Academy of Science and we don't see the numbers of middle and high school students in competitions as we see in other regions of the state. But we are making progress :) 

Thanks for your support!

Thanks, Kenne! Great question and one that we ask ourselves constantly: what is working, what needs adjustments, what is not as important. We have an external evaluator that conducts focus groups twice a year and individual interviews with students at mid-year. Students also fill out surveys about all the aspects of the program, and students and mentors are surveyed on their mentoring experience.  The parts that are really working are the:

• one-on-one mentoring. Mentors are this figure that students can count on for support and guidance not only academically and career wise (they help selecting courses, tracks, advise on and help finding internships, and so much more) but emotionally. Students report being able to open up to their mentors and finding "a second parent" sometimes in them. Mentors are typically the first to alert about concerns on student well-being. Weekly meetings with mentors have been particularly important during the pandemic. Mentors also report this experience making them reflect on their mentoring style and grow.
• financial aid. Point blank, like one of the students says on the video, many could not attend college without the funds provided.
• panels of STEM professionals, graduate school administrators, and students and site visits to STEM companies and graduate schools. These have been the most instrumental in opening the students’ eyes to careers in STEM, what makes someone a strong candidate for graduate school or particular occupation, and what is day-to-day life of these figures, challenges and triumphs. There is nothing more real to our students that hearing firsthand from those in those positions (graduate students, STEM occupations) and visiting the actual sites. It is especially impactful for them to see alumni in those places (graduate school, STEM occupation) and realizing that they look like them. 
• Student lounge. This has proved more important than we could have imagined for providing a space to study alone or together, to retrieve, to rest, a place to their own. It helps strengthening the cohort community. 
• Having a community and being part of group has helped students feel integrated. Our recent weekend long retreat was a fantastic way of bringing together current scholars, alumni, and mentors.  

Things that are in constant flux for improvement are tutoring/study halls. We want to provide the academic support that the students need, especially those incoming freshmen with a wide level of preparation. Sometimes it is hard to find the most suitable tutor (needs change from semester to semester) or to get students buying into the study hall idea as not just to learn but to teach others and reinforce knowledge. Some programs have cohorts that take courses together and that sounds ideal, but we have to find a formula that works for us; we have many tracks and concentrations and students like that freedom of selecting their courses at their own pace but we could consider the cohorts attending classes together in the first year or two.  We have had success using more senior, strong students in the program to tutor other students. It works well for both parts.

I would not say that there are less important things, but some students may say that our weekly general meeting (aka "class") "takes away from their time". Students are required to register for this one credit hour class as a way to ensure we have a time that we all can be together that is used for professional development, panels, seminars, metacognition skills, mindfulness, etc. and of course logistics. That is followed by the tutoring/study hall. The perception, by some students, that this takes away from their time is a function of whatever pressures they are under at that time and of course the perceived gain (or lack of) of what we do during the course. In general, they buy into it as they see the benefits, which include getting together with this group of friends that are becoming their support net. 

As for our research questions we have been using some instruments to measure students' "science identity" at various points and observe how it develops for the different students. We also are trying to tease apart the financial support from other aspects of the program in their overall success. 

Thanks again for watching our video and for your insight!

Thanks for your comments, Mia! Yes, the students' testimonies are really re-affirming of what COMPASS2 is about. 

One thing that is preparing them for that next step in the workplace or graduate school is learning first hand from people like them that are in those positions. COMPASS2 scholars write reflections after every panel, and every site visit and we learn what they find valuable, informative, new, shocking, intimidating, reassuring, and how that new knowledge has changed or potentially will change their approach to that next step. It is sometimes interesting how a student will make note of something that may have been said in other panels or heard in other visits many times before, like for example, that one does not have to pay to graduate school but there are a number of ways through which one will get a stipend. Reading through those reflections and noticing that has made me reflect on it. I concluded that the student might only have registered/heard the message when he/she finally was ready for it. So we keep sending the messages in many ways, under many formats, and through different faces. 

And it is true that some supports won't be there in the same way that they are within COMPASS2, but we speak at length about the importance of mentors -- and again they hear from panelists, graduate students and STEM professionals. That wherever they'll go they should find themselves a mentor or mentors. 

We also believe that developing that STEM identity although will not provide a shinning armor against everything, it will certainly help them walk more steadily as the find their place in the new occupation.