Crossing the Bridge to Student Success in STEM

The IINSPIRE Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation held its 2012-13 Annual Conference: Crossing the Bridge to Student Success in STEM on February 8, 2013 at Iowa State University.

The IINSPIRE Annual Conference featured speakers and concurrent programs of interest to both students and professionals. Students, faculty, and staff from alliance institutions and representatives from alliance partners were encouraged to attend.

Keynote Speaker: Adina Sterling
Adina Sterling is an Assistant Professor of Strategy at Washington University’s Olin Business School. Her research investigates social structure in labor and product markets and strategic human resource practices. Her primary focus is on how social structure affects firm
and individual level outcomes, and she studies professionals across
a number of areas including business, law, and STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine). She holds a Ph.D. in Organization and Management from Goizueta Business
School at Emory University, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with
a minor in international economics from The Ohio State University.
Prior to pursuing a Ph.D., Adina spent five years working as an
engineer at Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The keynote address, The Art of Choosing, discussed:

• Where does the fortitude to choose an uncommon path in life come from?
  A discussion about how we conceive of our choices, and this having a lot to do with our resolve.
• Why is a STEM career and investment in STEM-related pursuits worthwhile?
  A discussion about why STEM careers are challenging, but worthy of pursuit.

Student Workshops and Events
Leadership Dialogue: Students of Color Roundtable & Panel Discussion
The workshop explored various “complex issues” that affect the lives of STEM students of color on predominately white college and university campuses. Topics included cross-cultural faculty-student mentor relationships in STEM, student-student interactions, deficit thinking among faculty in STEM, stereotype threat with students of color in STEM, and ideas for increasing diversity in STEM and what attributes to this factor.

Student Career Development Workshop
An open discussion with alliance students to address their questions and needs regarding STEM career development. The workshop began by assessing the stage that the students are in and then adjust the content to their backgrounds and interests in exploring issues regarding career development. The topics included everyday opportunities to develop professional skills and how to identify and find a mentor.

Results of the Poster Session 
Research Poster Category Awards
1st Place: Diane Fru, Iowa State University, “Characterizing Candidate Breast Cancer Tumor Suppressor Genes: MTUS2 and LHX8.”
2nd Place: Alexander Lodge: University of Iowa, “Synthesis and Evaluation of Organophosphonate Inhibitors for Human Acetylcholinesterase.”
3rd Place: Margaret Shirley, Iowa State University, “Men’s Attitudes Toward Couple’s Counseling.”

Experiential Poster Category Awards
1st Place: Nicole Bradley, Iowa State University, “Planting a TREE: Exposing high school students to ecological research with reptiles.”
2nd Place: Christopher Purches, Upper Iowa University, “This poster describes my internship experience with FPDCC, where I did GIS.”

Student Choice Award
Gary Batres, Doane College, “Identification of Steroids and Metabolic Disease Markers using DETECHIP®.”

A complete list of the posters presented at the conference can be found here.

Faculty Workshops
Summer Bridge Programs to Support Student Excellence
This workshop provided broad examples of the types of programs currently in existence among Alliance partners, including two somewhat different examples of programs. In addition, we introduced a digital tool to find and share resources for such programs. Attendees had the opportunity to work together in groups associated with institutional type and goals to develop plans and consider how they could collaborate and the Alliance could support them in their efforts to develop a bridge program.

Data Driven Planning to Broaden Participation and Graduation in STEM
Objectives, outcomes, and data for the alliance were discussed. The workshop was open to faculty, staff, and professional from alliance institutions and their partners. Conference attendees interested in learning more about the IINSPIRE LSAMP Alliance were welcome to attend.

Alliance Activities and Priorities for 2012-13
Alliance leaders from each institution shared their progress and plans for alliance programming for this year. Objective teams and campus teams actively working on upcoming activities. The workshop was open to faculty, staff, and administrators from alliance institutions and their partners. Anyone interested in learning more about the IINSPIRE LSAMP Alliance was welcome to attend.