BCOE education/outreach initiatives suitable for NSF Broader Impacts links
revised/reformatted 4/2/14
Program Name: MESA Schools Program (MSP)
The MESA Schools Program (MSP) assists students at middle and senior high schools (and some
elementary schools) to excel in math and science and become competitively eligible for the most
rigorous colleges and universities. UCR’s MESA Schools Program partners with teachers,
administrators, school district officials and industry representatives to provide a proven academic
enrichment model. MSP selects students through a process that involves teachers at participating
schools and local MESA personnel.
MSP reaches teachers, students, and parents at targeted schools. MESA participants get
engineering focused instruction (provided through project based learning curriculum), individual
academic plans, SAT/PSAT preparation, study skills training, and career and college exploration.
To make the most of the academic enrichment experience, MSP also provides teachers and
parents with training. At MESA Engineering Project Competitions, students apply engineering
thinking and mathematical and scientific principles to build and compete in challenges, such as
building cardboard boats (see photo).
Date created: 1999
Students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year: 900 high school and middle school students;
30 high school and middle school teachers
Evaluation mechanism(s): MESA has a unified, statewide evaluation program. The extent to
which a faculty member’s activities influence the number of students who are ready to succeed
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in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in college should be identifiable in
the existing formative and summative evaluation framework.
Outcomes/ Success metrics: MSP’s desired outcomes are codified in a comprehensive logic
model. They include measurable increases in the number of students who take the required a-g
precollege courses and pass with good grades; increases in the number of students from
disadvantaged backgrounds who take the SAT or ACT; and increases in the number of
disadvantaged students who enroll in college immediately after high school. Parents should have
increased awareness of college requirements and opportunities, and teachers should have greater
interaction with faculty and counseling staff and increased use of academic prep tools.
Participating faculty role and time required: The UC MESA program provides core funding
for us to serve nearby schools, and private donations also are added. A UCR professor who
wants to get involved in an existing hands-on opportunity (e.g., cardboard boats, robotics) could
contribute an amount in the hundreds to sponsor a team or provide extra materials and supplies to
support more teams or more members per team. Faculty also can provide summer research
opportunities to MESA teachers (typical cost is $6,000 to $10,000 for a summer stipend; often,
teachers want to spend less than the full summer in a setting like this so they still have time for
vacation and for preparing to teach in the fall).
Taking part in on-campus events only, as a coach, judge, or other volunteer, would involve only
one or two weekends per year. Mentoring a team would involve a commitment of a few hours
per month throughout the academic year. Providing a summer research opportunity for a teacher
would involve time during the spring (to prepare the visiting researcher) and summer (to mentor
the teacher and help him/her translate the research to the curriculum).
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need: See preceding paragraph.
Off campus/On campus: Both. Most programming takes place in the classroom or after school
at the participating schools, but the program includes field trips to UCR and some competitions
and hands-on activities on campus.
Program Contact (Name, e-mail): Carlos Gonzalez, carlosg@engr.ucr.edu.
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Program Name: Encouraging Transfers from Hispanic Serving
Undergraduate Institutions
Under support from the U.S. Department of Education, UCR has established an aggressive
outreach program with nearby Hispanic Serving Institutions, particularly community colleges in
Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Through this program and other resources, UCR
provides guidance to community college students on how to transfer to a four-year institution
and how to succeed at a university. This effort is in keeping with the California Master Plan for
Higher Education (see http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/mastplan/mp.htm), which encourages
students to transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions for completion of the
bachelor’s degree. Our experience at UCR is that community college students who transfer in as
juniors are more likely to complete bachelor’s degrees than students who start here as freshmen,
and are at least as likely as other students to go on to graduate studies.
The services that we offer to students of nearby community colleges include guidance on
curriculum articulation, so they can transfer in as juniors; opportunities to join professional
societies and take part in professional development activities; lectures and events at the
community college; and competitions that involve multiple institutions from around the region.
A popular annual event is the wind turbine competition (see photo), which involves students
from UCR and several nearby colleges.
Date created: 2008
Students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year: Various programs reach hundreds to
thousands of students per year.
Evaluation mechanism(s): The Department of Education-funded program incorporated a
number of formative and summative evaluation metrics. The transfer student initiative was just
one aspect of the program, which also addressed student success in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields among Hispanic and low-income students. The
evaluation program originally included (1) an on-line survey administered at partner community
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colleges to measure student awareness and interest in STEM related fields and majors; (2)
collection and analysis of STEM course enrollment on partner community college campuses; (3)
attendance logs from events at the community colleges; (4) collection of data on the number of
community college students who applied to four-year institutions and were accepted; and (5)
analysis of student needs assessments of target students who were in academic difficulty at UCR.
Outcomes/ Success metrics: This project contributes to one of UCR’s strategic goals from its
current 10-year plan: to serve as a national exemplar for diversity, inclusion, and community.
UCR is one of only a handful of accredited research-intensive Hispanic Serving Institutions
(OPEID-00131600), and we are one of America’s most diverse research universities. Our
ultimate metric is to build a student body that reflects California’s population, which, according
to most estimates, is already a “minority-majority” state (see, for example,
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2013/06/19-us-majority-minority-populationcensus-frey). The most pertinent metrics, therefore, are those that indicate the growth in the
number of Hispanic and low-income students who transfer to UCR in STEM fields, successfully
complete bachelor’s degrees, and go on to graduate programs.
Participating faculty role and time required: Faculty can get involved with this program by
providing research opportunities, visiting nearby community colleges to describe opportunities at
UCR and four-year institutions in general, and/or sponsoring competitions like the wind turbine.
In a proposal, PI should budget some costs for mileage and materials if doing a hands-on
demonstration or activity. The time required can be low – for example, delivering one or two
presentations at colleges during the year, and/or taking part in the wind turbine event as a coach
or judge.
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need: See preceding paragraph.
Off campus/On campus: Both. Some events take place at community colleges in Riverside,
Moreno Valley, Norco, San Bernardino, and more distant areas. Some take place on campus.
Program Contact (Name, e-mail): Mr. Jun Wang, junwang@engr.ucr.edu
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Program Name: ENSURE (Engineering Success and Retention)
Engineering freshmen often enter college with a poor understanding of what is needed for
college success – and even a poor understanding of what engineering is. These factors are major
contributors to attrition in the first two years. In 2013-14, BOE established a series of
interventions called the ENSURE program (Engineering Success and Retention) to inspire more
young people to pursue engineering in college and to help prepare them to succeed when they
do. BCOE undergraduates, mostly from the 23 professional societies with student chapters, meet
weekly with high school students to explain what engineering is and to emphasize study skills
and professional development. ENSURE not only prepares high school students for success in
engineering in college; it develops engineering undergraduates as effective communicators and
mentors. It is important to note that UCR’s student body is one of the most diverse in America –
the mentors come from the same backgrounds as the local students whom they are mentoring.
This creates a rich opportunity for undergraduates to serve as role models.
Date created: 2013-14
Number of students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year: several hundred high school
students per year
Evaluation mechanism(s): BCOE is tracking the number of freshman engineering students who
are in academic difficulty or who transfer out of engineering for any reason.
Outcomes/ Success metrics: The goal of this program is to increase the engagement and
persistence of students who enter UCR as freshmen intending to major in engineering. Our target
is at least a 50% reduction in the number of lower-division engineering students who are in
academic difficulty, who transfer out of engineering, or who drop out of UCR.
Participating faculty role and time required: Faculty are invited to get involved by attending
ENSURE meetings to talk about research priorities and how to prepare for success as an
engineering student. Faculty also can take high school students and undergraduates as research
assistants; a good body of literature shows that early engagement in research contributes to
student persistence and success. A key feature of ENSURE is continual contact. Faculty
members do not have to attend weekly meetings, but they should do more than drop in once a
year.
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need: No funds from faculty are required
for core activities. Faculty would be well-advised to budget for mileage for high school visits.
Summer research opportunities for high school students typically pay stipends of $3,000 to
$4,000.
Off campus/On campus: Most activity takes place off-campus.
Program Contact (Name, e-mail): Associate Dean C.V. Ravishankar, ravi@engr.ucr.edu.
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Program Name: San Bernardino County Alliance for Education ABLE
program (Applications by Business and Labor for Educators)
See http://www.sbcalliance.org/able-field-studies
This is a program operated by the Alliance for Education, which is a branch of the San
Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. Applications by Business and Labor for
Educators (ABLE) is a program that helps school students understand the real-world applications
of the science and math that they are learning. A practitioner who uses math and science in his or
her job first works with an education specialist from the Alliance to determine the appropriate
grade level to target (the type of math or science is matched to the grade level in the California
curriculum where it is taught). Then the practitioner develops a demonstration, hands-on activity,
presentation, or video to describe how the math and science concepts are applied. The most
popular example of this is a demonstration by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
in which they set up a mock crime scene at the school and show how they must use trigonometry
to figure out where the shots came from, based on the position of the body and the blood stains
on the wall. Other examples:
 “Fighting Fires With Algebra” by Firefighter Tom Rubio
 “Hold Me Back: Volume and Dimensional Analysis” by Caltrans Construction Lead
Jerry De Santos
 “Who Wants to Be a Trash Man: Graphing” by Compliance Auditor David Fisher
 “Surveyor Math: Pythagorean Theorem” by Surveyor Duane Friel
A couple of BCOE faculty have built ABLE modules; Heejung Jung in Mechanical Engineering
was one of the first.
Southern California Gas Company ABLE presentation: multiplying fractions.
Date created: mid-2000s
Number of students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year: Hundreds of students in San
Bernardino County high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools.
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Evaluation mechanism(s): Evaluation is multi-layered. In preparing an ABLE program, the
professor works with curriculum experts who provide feedback on the relevance and ageappropriateness of the material. After the classroom presentation, the teacher will provide
feedback on the quality of the presentation and its relevance to the curriculum.
Outcomes/ Success metrics: Students recognize the “real world” applications of the science and
math they are learning.
Participating faculty role and time required: Time is required to work with the Alliance
curriculum specialist on developing the presentation. This can involve several iterations, in the
tens of hours. Then the PI visits schools to deliver the presentation as requested and agreed upon.
Over time, the PI can train graduate students and postdocs to deliver the presentation, to build the
trainees’ skills as teachers, communicators, and ambassadors of science.
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need: No funds are required other than
the cost of visiting the schools. Often, the presentation is made into a video, which reduces travel
time and also gives the PI a nice educational resource to use.
Off campus/On campus: This activity is almost entirely off-campus.
Program Contact (Name, e-mail): Mr. Kim Terry, (909) 386-2636, Kim_Terry@sbcss.k12.ca.us.
Program Name: MARC U* Program
The MARC U STAR Program (Minority Access to Research Careers, Undergraduate Student
Training in Academic Research) is open to qualified undergraduate students majoring in the
sciences with both an expressed interest in a career in biomedical research and an intention to
pursue graduate education leading to a PhD, M.D./PhD or other combined professional
degree/PhD. The MARC U* Pretrainee Program is a 9-week summer research program that
introduces underrepresented students to biomedical-related research through exposure in a
laboratory setting with a MARC U* Faculty Mentor after the Freshman year (normally starting
the last week of June and continuing through the last week of August). This research
opportunity is broad-based and includes faculty in the Biological Sciences, Biochemistry,
Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Chemistry, Physics and
Statistics. For the MARC U* Trainee Program, trainees choose a Faculty Mentor from
participating faculty and does research in their lab. Each MARC Trainee, spend at least 12 hours
per week in the lab during the regular academic year, for which they can get course credit, and
full-time during the summer period. Trainees have opportunities to attend scientific conferences
and to participate in classes offered through the program.
Date created: 2002
Number of students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year: 10 summer Pretrainees/15 yearround Trainees
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Evaluation mechanism(s): Outside evaluator
Outcomes/ Success metrics: The number MARC alumni who complete PhD or MD/PhD
degrees
Participating faculty role and time required: 25 and 5%
Grant budget amount needed per student: MARC student stipends are paid from the MARC
grant. The MARC Program provides limited monetary support for lab supplies to faculty
mentors (~$500/quarter).
Off campus/On campus: On
Program Contact (Name, e-mail): Nancy Day, (951) 827-5449, nancy.day@ucr.edu
Program Name: CNAS Dean’s Summer Internship Program
The Dean’s Summer Internship Program offers select students a paid, full-time summer research
position under the mentorship of a faculty member; students attend weekly group meetings with
the Dean to discuss their research projects.
Date created: 2013-14
Number of students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year:
Evaluation mechanism(s):
Outcomes/ Success metrics:
Participating faculty role and time required:
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need:
Off campus/On campus:
Program Contact (Name, e-mail): Scott C. Silverman, CNAS Scholars/RISE Coordinator,
(951) 827-2488, scott.silverman@ucr.edu
Program Name: California Alliance for Minority Participation
(CAMP
CAMP-UCR http://camp.ucr.edu/ encourages NSF-declared underrepresented students in the
STEM fields to successfully complete undergraduate science degrees and pursue study at the
graduate and professional level. The National Science Foundation considers as underrepresented
in STEM students with Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, and NonFilipino-Pacific Islander ethnic backgrounds reported at UCR at the time of admission. CAMP
provides research opportunities, faculty and peer mentoring, pre-academic advising, networking
opportunities, and seminars given by distinguished faculty members and UCR alumni. CAMP
students are eligible for summer and academic year research opportunities with UCR faculty.
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Date created: 1994
Number of students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year:
Evaluation mechanism(s): internal
Outcomes/ Success metrics: Increase of B.S. completion rates; Increased graduate school entry
Participating faculty role and time required: research project oversight as needed
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need: stipend/supplies as needed
Off campus/On campus: On
Program Contact: Richard Cardullo, richard.cardullo@ucr.edu, (951) 827-3680 or Maria
Franco-Aguilar, Director, Academic Preparation & Outreach, maria.franco@ucr.edu, (951) 8273680
Summer Physics Academy: The Summer Physics Academy is a weeklong workshop hosted by
the Department of Physics to help train and equip local high school physics teachers with
practical and conceptual physics lessons, hands-on activities, curriculum and technology to use
in their own classrooms. Through lectures and demos, the teachers will learn the latest in a
variety of research topics conducted by UCR physicists such as classical mechanics,
astrophysics, condensed matter, thermal physics, high energy physics, oscillations and waves,
electricity and magnetism, nanoelectronics, biophysics, and optics. Contact: Dr. Leonid
Pryadko, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, (951) 827-5644.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU): The NSF-funded Research Experience for
Undergraduates (REU) site is geared towards students from two- and four-year colleges with
limited research infrastructure to the excitement and career options that studies of plant and plant
pathogen biology offers, but students from all colleges are welcome to apply. The program is
sponsored by the UC-Riverside Center for Plant Cell Biology (CEPCEB) which, in association
with the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology (IIGB) and other college departments, includes
many faculty that study plants, plant pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes), other
microbes, and allied fields. Click here for more information.
Mentoring Summer Research Internship Program (MSRIP)
Mentoring Summer Research Internship Program (MSRIP) is UCR’s eight-week summer
research program for rising juniors, seniors (and some masters students) from educationally
and/or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Participants work under the supervision of a
faculty mentor on the mentor’s research project. The goal of MSRIP is to increase the number of
outstanding students from diverse backgrounds who pursue the Ph.D. by strengthening their
academic and professional development for admission to the University of California campuses
and UC Riverside, in particular, as well as colleges and universities nationwide.
http://graduate.ucr.edu/msrip.html MSRIP’s primary objectives are to:
1. Provide preparation for graduate studies through a variety of workshops
2. Provide a mechanism that fosters faculty/student interrelationships
3. Introduce students to graduate opportunities at UCR
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4. Assist the students in realizing their potential for graduate studies, in general, and at
UCR, in particular
5. Expose the faculty mentors to the possibility of recruiting their interns to their
departments
Date created: 1987
Number of students/individuals enrolled/engaged per year: 12
Evaluation mechanism(s): Internal
Outcomes/ Success metrics: Presentations at the Research Symposium, graduate enrollment
Participating faculty role and time required: Provision of a research project, participation in
eight-week summer program; time as needed.
Grant budget amount needed per student/program need: $3,000
Off campus/On campus: On
Program Contact: Maria Franco-Aguilar, Director, Academic Preparation & Outreach,
maria.franco@ucr.edu, (951) 827-3680
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