See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Geoscience Diversity 2008: Status, Strategies, and Successful Models I
Abstract:
External evaluation used ethnographic methods due to the low number of participants, and ongoing interviews provided formative evaluation for modifications of the program. Recruitment, faculty engagement, personal attention, and institutional leadership provided the most marked challenges, and yet provided the most support for the success of RESESS to date. Recruitment of students proved time and resource intensive but also provided new ways for the research community and UNAVCO to engage new partners. Faculty engagement was unexpectedly time consuming as mentors need a strong support system throughout the entire summer. On the other hand, having members of the science community step up to support RESESS was extremely gratifying to the people who manage RESESS. Personal attention is a hallmark of RESESS and similar programs with a small number of interns. Despite demands on project staff, positive rewards resulted from progress in students' careers and in the scientific community. Institutional support from UNAVCO's board of directors, management, and advisory committees as well as support from program partners IRIS and the USGS, Golden have been essential in starting an ambitious nation-wide program.
Modifications from the SOARS model incorporated non-sequential summer experiences because of required field camps for geology and geophysics students and program changes due to a disseminated group of research mentors and projects.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Geoscience Diversity 2008: Status, Strategies, and Successful Models I