Submitted to: Dr. Elba Serrano, Professor of Biology & RISE Program Director; Dr. Marvin
Bernstein, Biology Department Chair
Submitted by: Amanda Munoz, RISE Undergraduate Representative
Re: Addressing the Concerns of RISE Undergraduate Students and Evolving the RISE Program
to Suit Their Needs
Background
The Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program is a program which has
helped many students on their path to doctorate degrees. However, RISE was not the first
program to help students with their graduate goals here at NMSU. In fact, the RISE program
evolved out of the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) program. Both programs
were designed with the intent to encourage more minority people to seek careers in biomedical
research. The goal of the programs was – and still is – to create more ethnic diversity and new
ideas into the scientific fields.
The history of MBRS and RISE began in 1974 when the MBRS program first started. MBRS
was started off of a grant by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Most of the grant provided
NMSU faculty with money to obtain the latest technology in their labs. The remaining grant
money provided jobs for minority students interested in research. Many people enjoyed the
benefits of the MBRS program which made the program very successful. The MBRS program
was so successful, it lasted 25 years before the NIH decided to alter the program. Before the
MBRS program was changed though, it successfully helped hundreds of students achieve their
doctorates in biomedical research.
In 1999, the MBRS program was divided into two programs: the Support of Continuous
Research Excellence (SCORE) program and the RISE program. The SCORE program was to
provide grant money for faculty to maintain their labs with the latest technology. The RISE
program was to provide students the opportunity to work in the labs of the faculty. The students
got more than just a paycheck though. RISE was set up to help groom students into confident
and competent professionals within their fields of research. By joining the RISE program, a
student was given lab experience, help with preparing for graduate school, and experience in
attending professional scientific conferences. All of which are still benefits to the students today.
For the last nine years, the RISE program has been recruiting and polishing students to
become the next generation of scientists. The program has been a major success with its offers
of competitive wages, health insurance, and excellent research opportunities. With the success
has come dramatic expansion. This rapid growth has allowed RISE to hire many more students
than were allowed in the MBRS program. The result is an organization which employs 50
students at the graduate and undergraduate levels in five departments.
Introduction
Though RISE has been successful for many years, the program’s growth pains have begun to
catch up. To stay competitive in recruiting and retaining students, RISE needs to evolve.
Through interviews with a variety of students within RISE, I have determined the most important
issues students would like changed. These issues are all key parts of the RISE program
experience.
The most important issue to students is the GRE prep followed by the RISE program’s
organization of student requirements. Implementing lab rotations for incoming students and a
lack of social gatherings were also among the issues students feel are important. Consequences
stemming from the issues students feel need change could be devastating to RISE. If nothing is
done to address the issues of the students, enthusiasm for participation in RISE will begin to
fade. The quality and ratio of students continuing to graduate school from RISE will dwindle
with the fading of enthusiasm. In turn, the ability for RISE to keep renewing its grant will also
disappear. Without the RISE program, many students will no longer have the advantage RISE
gives to its students who apply to graduate school.
Student Concerns
First, RISE students truly abhor being required to take the GRE prep in the summer. The
students I interviewed all felt like they were cheated when they took the summer GRE prep class.
The students complained they lost research time and a break in classes. From my interviews I
gathered that students crave the time summer allows them to unwind from the stress of tough
semesters. The students I spoke with claimed their research was their stress buster. Having an
entire summer to unwind by doing research that excites them is something the students look
forward to. The embittered attitude of the students caused by loosing precious down time had
effects on how they participated in the summer GRE prep. Most of the students said they did not
even try to learn during the summer class simply because they did not want to be there.
By requiring students to attend a GRE prep course that takes more than 12 hours a week – if
you include study time – RISE is asking the students to resist learning. Adding less research
time to learning burnout students feel after a semester is really counter productive to learning or
studying. The overall lack of time between the end of the semester and the beginning of the
class makes students irritable. Their irritability causes the students to not have enthusiasm for
the required prep class. If we want to encourage good scores on the GRE, then there must be a
better way to encourage the students.
Second, students I spoke with would like to see more organization concerning what is
expected of them. As the program is now, many students are confused about when graduate
application materials should be completed. The confusion stems from students not having a
timeline to refer to. The result of the confusion is a portion of students misunderstanding. This
misunderstanding leaves RISE with seniors who have not completed applications. The students
who are not prepared to apply to graduate school do not always apply. This disagrees with
RISE’s goal of helping students get into graduate school. Some good changes have already been
made towards helping students with this problem. However, we can still do more to further
improve the organization of requirements.
The third concern I heard from students was self doubt about whether or not they picked the
right lab to be in. I have yet to meet a RISE student who did not like working in the lab.
However, some students expressed a wish to know what other labs are like. The reasons for
wanting a different experience ranged from not liking their mentor to knowing their current
projects are not right for them. RISE does allow students to switch labs if they are unhappy, but
students feel unhappy lab experiences can be avoided altogether.
The last issue many students mentioned is the lack of social gatherings amongst RISE
students. Although students attend the required workshops, most still do not know their fellow
RISE members. I have heard several complaints from students about not having social
gatherings where they can meet other students in the program. Many students have the same
classes and could be forming study groups with their fellow RISE members if they only knew
who their fellow students were. It is true efforts have been made to try and rectify this problem,
but there needs to be better structure in the efforts to make them more successful.
Objectives
To address the concerns of the students and improve the operation of the RISE program, we
need to do the following:

Alter the time when students take the GRE prep.

Create a structured timeline of when students should have different portions of their
graduate school applications done.

Implement lab rotations for all incoming RISE students.

Establish ways of funding social activities for students in RISE and implementing at
least three major events per year for them.
Solution and Benefits
Through my student status and membership on the Student Advisory Council in RISE, I have
observed the needs and desires of my fellow students. By talking with the other students and
attending all the required workshops and classes I have come up with some ideas to resolve the
concerns of RISE students. The ideas are as follows:

The GRE prep problem is really a simple matter to fix. We can alter the GRE prep
requirement so students would be required to take the UNIV 300 class offered by
NMSU. This universities studies class is a GRE prep class lasting half a semester.
The class is worth one credit and can be inserted into the schedule of student
requirements to be taken before a student’s senior year. By no longer requiring
students to take the GRE prep in the summer, they will be able to focus more on
research and perhaps do a second internship. The students will also get the break in
classes they need to be able to fully focus in the fall when classes start again. RISE
will also benefit by not needing to hire anyone to teach their GRE prep classes.

To address the disorganization of student requirements, a structured timeline, like
those the advising office hands out, should be created. The timeline should list
deadlines in terms of semesters for when students should work on and complete
different portions of their graduate school applications. Items like resumes,
curriculum vitas, and personal statements can be the focus of different semesters –
depending on a student’s class level – to spread out the work load of filling out
applications. This would alleviate a lot of confusion from students by allowing them
to know what they need focus on in which semester.

Lab rotations are something we can easily implement in RISE. Many graduate
schools make incoming students go through lab rotations and RISE could use the
rotations as another way of preparing students for graduate school. To begin having
lab rotations, we can require the students who apply for the next induction period to
interview at least six mentors. We already ask students to interview at least three
mentors so this portion of the proposal will not create significant changes. Next, the
requirement to list mentors a student wants to work with would become the list of labs
he/she would be interested in rotating through before making a final mentor choice.
Each rotation would last about two weeks or the duration of a pay period. The mentor
in charge of a student during a rotation would sign the student’s timesheet for that pay
period. Once a student has completed all of his/her rotations, he/she will be asked to
make a final mentor choice based on their rotation experiences. Instigating the lab
rotations would help ensure students are happy with the lab they choose and are
interested in what they are doing. It will take the cooperation of the entire RISE
program faculty to begin lab rotations, but I believe the results will be worth the effort.

To have social activities for students, we need to pick out activities to do and we need
money to fund them. The activities themselves could probably be events like dinners,
student bowling tournaments, community service activities, movie nights, and other
similar group functions. The money can be raised through fundraisers – which will be
social activities in their own ways – and sponsors. Through the help of the RISE
Student Advisory Committee, fundraisers can be planed and carried out. Too, the
Committee can approach groups like the Lyons Club and the Mesilla Valley Rotary
Club to sponsor our social events. Dr. Marvin Bernstein has suggested that the
biology department could give RISE a small sum for student social activities. Other
departments with students in RISE might be interested in doing the same. By finding
sponsors and doing fundraisers, we will eliminate the need for students to pay their
own way at a social activity. Students will appreciate the chance to mingle with their
peers while receiving a break from their normal routines. In the long run, social
activities could improve the enthusiasm students have for both their work and classes.
Cost and Resources
While there are some costs associated with implementing this proposal, I believe the overall
benefits are much greater. The first proposed change has no expense and will save money in the
long run. The savings would stem from eliminating the need to hire instructors for the summer
prep course. Instead of having a GRE prep class in the summer, RISE would be require students
to take UNIV 300. The course is a GRE prep class offered by NMSU four times during normal
school semesters. Students would sign up for UNIV 300 like they do with their other classes and
receive credit for the class. Listing the GRE prep as a requirement in the schedule I have also
proposed will only cost a few minutes. The few minutes needed could be incorporated into the
time allotted for putting the schedule together.
A Structured schedule can be designed by Citlalin Xochime, a RISE Professional Skills
Facilitator. The majority of cost from the schedule will be the amount of paper and ink used for
printing. Initially though, there will be a cost two to three hours of labor for putting together the
schedule. The schedule would be planned to help students know what will be expected of them
while they are in RISE. A detailed semester by semester account will allow students to know
where they stand in relation to fulfilling RISE’s requirements. Included in the schedule can be
deadlines to take the GRE and finish graduate school application pieces. Conferences students
should attend could also be listed in the schedule by their approximate time of year.
Lab rotations will not cost RISE any more than the pay rate for students already is. Only the
name of the mentor who signs the time sheet for a new student would change after each rotation.
While the change in mentors could potentially pose a problem, detailed accounts of who will be
in charge of a student at what time during rotations would counter the problem. Mentors and
faculty could experience some extra strain over monitoring rotating students due to the
organization of each student’s rotation path. However, all systems experience strain when they
are initially changed. The strain is always eliminated after a system adjusts to its changes. For
RISE, time will alleviate the strain of implementing lab rotations as people get used to the new
student admission routine. New students would be allowed to work the same amount of time as
other RISE students. Like the other students in RISE, new students would be ineligible to work
more than 20 hours per week. Because mentors already need to train new students in their labs,
they would not need to do more than they already do for rotating students.
The money that will be spent on socials and food for the students will come mainly from
fundraisers and donations/scholarships from local groups/organizations like the ones I suggested
we approach. Organizing the fundraisers and approaching possible sponsors will be the
responsibility of the student advisory committee. Because the committee members are
volunteers to their positions, no cost will be associated for the time they spend on the above
mentioned activities.
Qualifications
Citlalin Xochime is currently in charge of creating and teaching the workshops undergraduate
RISE students are required to attend. She is seeking her doctorate in Rhetoric and Professional
Communication on top of the biology degrees she already holds. Citlalin’s experience in biology
and English give her an edge on knowing what would be good things for students to focus on
first when putting together their graduate school applications. I feel confident Citlalin will be
able to create a good schedule for students which will also be easy for them to understand.
The RISE Student Advisory Committee is comprised solely of students. There are four of us
to divide the duties of planning an event. As students, we know and understand what the
students want. We are responsible and hardworking students who want the best for our fellow
RISE members. Our coordination will allow us to simplify the process of preparing an event. I
feel the enthusiasm we hold for wanting to improve the experiences of RISE students will further
aid us in coordinating activities.
Schedule
The tables below suggest timelines for the completion and incorporation of the proposed
socials, fundraising, and tutoring changes to RISE. I did not include a table timeline for the
preparation of the structured schedules for students because it will need so little time to complete
and only has to be prepared once. However, I would suggest the schedule should be completed
and handed out or emailed to students sometime before the beginning of the spring 2009
semester.
Socials and Fundraising for Spring '09 semester
Task
Plan First Fundraiser
Speak with two Possible Sponsors
First Fundraiser
Plan Second Fundraiser and Spring Break Activity
Speak with two more Possible Sponsors
Second Fundraiser
Plan Third Fundraiser
Spring Break Activity
Begin Planning End of Semester Social
Third Fundraiser
Finish with End of Semester Social Plans and Preparations
End of Semester Social
Deadline
January 31, 2009
February 6, 2009
February 14, 2009
February 27, 2009
March 6, 2009
March 14, 2009
March 20, 2009
March 28, 2009
April 1, 2009
April 11, 2009
May 1, 2009
May 8, 2009
Because the need of money to fund food at workshops and prepare socials will be continual,
these timelines will be continually changing and adapting. The table for these activities will
probably renew and follow a similar path for each semester with the summer counting as a third
semester. Dates to have money by for food at workshops will not be added to the timeline at this
time because there are currently no scheduled workshops for the spring semester.
New Student Induction and Rotation Schedule
Task
Timeline
Student Interviews Prospective Mentors
August - September
Student Turns In RISE Application With A List Of 3-4 Mentors With
Labs He/She Would Like To Rotate In
Student Is Chosen At Selection Meeting
Student Begins First Lab Rotation
Student Continues To Second Lab Rotation
Third Rotation Begins
End of September
Beginning of October
Mid October
Beginning of November
Mid November
If Applicable, Fourth Rotation Begins
Student Chooses Mentor From Those He/She Rotated With
Beginning of December
November or December
The rotation schedule follows what would happen during the fall admittance of new students
to RISE. Because the deadline for turning in applications is subject to change, only a rough
timeline of when things would happen are listed. The timeline can be modified with dates once
the application deadline is set. The timeline months may also be changed to reflect the
admittance times in the spring and summer.
Conclusion
The RISE program is a blessing and honor for its students. We strive to be the best of the best
and need help to do become such. RISE provides us with the tools we need to be successful, but
like all tools they need to be polished once in a while. I am excited about the changes I have
suggested in this proposal. It is my belief the students of RISE will greatly welcome all of the
suggested changes because the ideas came from them. Should this proposal be accepted and put
into motion, I believe the enthusiasm of current students will increase greatly and translate into
more students applying to graduate school when they finish at NMSU.
Thank you for your consideration and time.
Sincerely,
Amanda Munoz