Portland Bridges to Baccalaureate: Evaluating activities to transition underrepresented students from community college to university

The Portland Bridges to Baccalaureate (PBTB) program is a federally-funded five-year project between three Portland Community College (PCC) campuses and Portland State University (PSU). It is designed to increase the number of underrepresented students transferring from community college to university to pursue academic and scientific careers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences -- including public health. Through the PBTB program, students gain access to comprehensive support services including academic advisors, peer and faculty mentors, precepted summer research internships, and topical seminars. In summer 2010, the first cohort of Bridges students will complete paid research internships mentored by experienced university research scientists committed to the advancement of underrepresented students in scientific careers. In these placements, students will work 10-20 hours per week on a research project in their discipline of interest: public health, health sciences, chemistry, biology, physics, psychology, sociology, and social work. In addition to providing opportunities to build specific disciplinary skills, familiarize with the research setting, and network with research faculty and staff, the internship is intended to ease and facilitate transfer students' transitions from community college to the university environment. Preliminary evaluation data will be presented on this first cohort of Bridges interns' skill development and satisfaction with the summer internship program. We will discuss process evaluation data, including results from interviews with academic mentors regarding their roles and perceptions of the program. Administrative lessons learned from the processes of building and facilitating a mentor network, and matching and supporting new student transferees, will also be shared.