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About the Program
The purpose of this program is to form a linkage among the three CUNY Colleges in the Bronx (Lehman College, Hostos Community College, and Bronx Community College) that allows STEM scholars from Hostos and BCC the opportunity to complete a summer laboratory research training program at Lehman College. We anticipate that once these students have completed their associate's degree at their home campuses, they will transfer to Lehman to complete their bachelor's degree. These students will be designated as STEM Scholars at their home campuses, and at Lehman, and if they transfer to Lehman upon completing their associate's degree, they will be designated as STEM Scholars at Lehman, giving them special consideration at registration and an opportunity to continue laboratory studies with their Lehman mentors.
The students work in their respective laboratories at Lehman every day during the two summer sessions, and meet as a group with their mentors and the program director each Friday to present their most recent experimental data. At these meetings, the students learn how to properly present their material using PowerPoint slides and are rigorously questioned by faculty mentors and fellow students so they learn how to defend their work. The meetings also give the group a sense of cohesion. At the end of the summer, the students present a paper based on their work as well as a poster for display at both their home campuses and at Lehman to advertise the program, a unique collaboration of all three Bronx minority and Hispanic-serving institutions of CUNY.
In the pilot program, six students and five faculty mentors participated. Jubril Lawal and Herminio Torres from Hostos Community College were both working with Professor Moira Saune of the Biological Sciences Department on cancer-related studies. Godwin Boaful from Bronx Community College worked with Professor Stephen Redenti, also of Biological Sciences, on aspects of retinal stem cell migration. Ishmael Sagoe of Bronx Community College worked with Professor Timothy Paget of the Chemistry Department on the biochemical mechanisms that allow the human pathogen Giardia to complete its life cycle, and Peter Ansong and Kameka Deans of Bronx Community College worked with Professors Gustavo Lopez and Thomas Young of the Chemistry Department on various aspects of computational chemistry.
Following the pilot year, the program is now in its fourth year and incorporates the research facilities of the new science building.
We have received excellent support for this pilot program from the faculty involved and also in the form of financial support from each of the campuses involved in the project to cover student stipends. In addition, we have also received support from former Chancellor Matthew Goldstein and from Vice Chancellor Gillian Small.
