Month: March 2019

While at some institutions a student population of 45 to 50 percent identifying that English is not their primary language at home might be viewed as a challenge — at George Mason University that multilingual and multicultural diversity is celebrated as a resource.

Although national data on this subject at the university level is not easily gathered, it’s a good guess that Mason’s level of multilingual diversity may in fact teeter on being historic.  The degree of diversity, however, is not surprising for a campus that is located near an international city like Washington, DC and one that has valued and encouraged diversity.

With no existing road maps for multilingual student success, Mason INTO has joined with the Stearns Center to develop a ground-breaking effort to harness this resource and create a path for faculty and students to support them on their academic journey.

Helping build that path is a grant from 4-VA which funds two fellows who are already knee deep in data analysis and resource development – the foundation of the effort.

“At Mason, we pride ourselves on our diversity, but we can’t just point to our population numbers and say ‘look at us’ — we want and need to do more.  Our focus is to develop Mason’s agility and ability to work across cultures and languages,” explains INTO’s Interim Academic Director Karyn Kessler.  “We have a treasure trove at our fingertips which we can use to prepare Mason grads to have a global mindset and to work on global problems.”

Sara Mathis was brought on to analyze and report on quantitative and qualitative data regarding multilingual/international students, and their educational needs, as well as to design and implement follow-up studies to determine further needs for students and faculty. Mathis points out, “Although we already have clear data about international students, who form 8-11% of Mason’s student body, it’s important that we expand our base to include all our multilingual students. For instance, when we look at the results of surveys of the 100 level students, we conclude that 30-35% of our students speak a language other than English at home.  However, when we survey our 300 level students, which includes transfer students from NOVA, that figure grows to as high as 45-50%.”

Esther Namubiru has been selected to develop online resources and face-to-face guidance for faculty as they work with both international and locally-based Mason students who would benefit from English language support.  “We are looking at developing a variety of resources for our faculty in this area,” notes Namubiru.  “It might be a workshop or a series of workshops, course redesign support, online resources, or presentations – we will be flexible in our delivery methods based on the needs of the faculty.”

Thanks to 4-VA support, Mason is now set to move forward to take a leadership role in this arena.

Shelley Reid, Director for Teaching Excellence at the Stearns Center and Kessler’s partner in the program, notes “Our Mason student population is a microcosm of the population of Metropolitan Washington, DC, which, in turn, is a reflection of our growing global community.  We have an exciting resource at our hands, and we want to make the most of it.”

 

As a former high school science teacher at Chantilly and Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County, Andrea Cobb, (PhD in biochemistry) saw the difference with her own eyes.  After sending her students off to a summer research experience through Mason’s Aspiring Scientist’s Summer Internship Program (ASSIP), they would return in the fall as changed students.  “They came back to school looking and sounding like inspired scientists, with a resume full of authentic research under their belts.  I could see the difference in their eyes and read it in their papers,” says Cobb.

Fast Forward: Today Cobb is the Director at ASSIP and has hands-on evidence of that evolution, from student learner to avid researcher, reflected in the more than 100 students that passed through the doors last summer – both high schoolers from across the region and undergraduates from across the nation.

Launched in 2007 by Dr. Lance Liotta, Dr. Emanuel Petricoin III, Dr. Virginia Espina, and Amy Adams, ASSIP gives high school and undergraduate students with an interest in STEM access to real-world, research.  ASSIP attracts students from a wide range of schools — from Virginia (including UVA and William and Mary), to California, (including Stanford and Berkeley), as well as students from smaller schools like Troy University and Carleton College. Mentors from Mason’s College of Science donate their time each summer to deliver this rich experience.

ASSIP’s reputation is almost without parallel. “Aside from a similar program being run, and richly funded, by NIH; ASSIP is in a league of our own,” says Cobb.

The program boasts a long string of success stories, including 2018 ASSIP alums Ankit Gupta and David Rudo who won Virginia Congressional Representative Gerry Connelly’s APP Challenge (a national competition aimed at encouraging U.S. high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications) with their leading-edge technology known as “Stroke Save.”

As Cobb reports, ASSIP and the team behind it, had much work to do.  Their intention was to go full steam ahead and grow the program exponentially.  “We see this program as a game changer for our students. And to be truly successful, we need to broaden our reach,” explains Cobb.

For 2019, their goals were aggressive: Grow from 100 students and 25 mentors in 2018, to 200 students with additional mentors this year.

But the challenge for Cobb was clear:  funding.  They would need to supplement their budget with the dollars necessary to overcome a number of critical roadblocks preventing them from scaling up including conducting background checks, hiring a work flow manager, developing a training program for grad student mentors and a myriad of other essential elements.

That’s where 4-VA came in.  “This program aligns nicely with our 4-VA goals,” says Mason’s Campus Coordinator and Associate Provost Janette Muir.  “We identify and support those jewels of ideas that create opportunities for higher education.  We see the possibilities and provide greater access.”

Now, thanks to that grant from 4-VA, Cobb put the ASSIP growth plans into motion. The 2019 summer program includes students from 54 universities and 171 high schools worldwide.   Cobb notes that there are 135 participants researching with 38 mentors.  Of the 135 students, 41 are college students from at least 16 different universities in 7 states (Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Florida, Kentucky and New York).  Virginia universities represented include William and Mary, George Mason, University of Virginia, the University of Mary Washington, James Madison University, Virginia Tech and Northern Virginia Community Colleges.  The high school students hail from 28 different high schools within 5 states (Oregon, California, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia).

In addition to the 135 students mentored for the entire summer, ASSIP has expanded access to real world research through several shorter duration courses.  This summer, 107 students attended research-related short courses including Introduction to Bioinformatics, Hands-On Introduction to Data Sciences and Life Sciences Proposal Preparation Boot Camp.

With that, they have welcomed 242 students for research this summer, well exceeding their 2019 goal of 200 students.  That welcome officially kicked off June 17 with the ASSIP orientation.  The students filled the Verizon auditorium at the Sci-Tech campus, brimming with ideas, energy and enthusiasm.  After settling in to their seats in the auditorium, the orientation started strong with a presentation by Mason’s own Dr. Michael E. Summers, a planetary scientist who specializes in the study of structure and evolution of planetary atmospheres.  Summers reviewed for the students his role and experiences on the mission teams of several NASA space probes considering science planning and interpretation of spacecraft observations. He is currently a co-investigator on the NASA New Horizons mission to the Pluto-Charon double planet, where he serves as the deputy lead of the Atmospheres Theme Team.

Following Summers’ presentation, students were divided into groups so that they could learn more about important safety procedures in advance of their summer research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon was filled with copious note taking, thoughtful discussion, and group decision-making.  For 17-year-old Divjot Bedi, a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, it was a day to whet his appetite for a deep dive into another summer of research.  This will be Bedi’s second stint at ASSIP and he can’t wait to get started.  “Last year, I gained a lot of strengths going through this program, but, importantly, I also learned a lot about my weaknesses, it showed me where I needed to focus to make the most of my time here,” said Bedi.  “This program fosters creativity, imagination, and collaboration — it’s truly exciting.”  Bedi emphasizes the importance and value of working with a mentor.  “I was able to do research with Dr. Caroline Hoemann last year, who is in the Bioengineering Department.  We analyzed white blood cell movement and how that might be applied to cancer research and therapy.” Bedi is clearly passionate about his work through ASSIP, but credits the program for giving him hands-on access to important research that brings his passion to life.

Even with the heavy lift of the subject matter during the orientation, it was clear that the aspiring scientists concluded the day more enthused then when they walked in that morning.

Concludes Cobb, “This funding couldn’t have come at a better time.  Imagine the possibilities; imagine the real-world difference this will make. We are so appreciative of the 4-VA support.”