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When José Fernández talks to minority students, whether he's at the University of Puerto Rico, Montana State University, Brooklyn College or elsewhere, he has the same conversation. Everywhere, Fernández says, "Students are looking for money to help pay for their education, but they have no idea there are so many resources to help them."
Money is not the only problem college students face, especially when they are minorities studying science, often the first in their families to do so. Questions about how to apply for graduate school, how to find research co-ops, how to balance family demands and schoolwork are always present, but often left unanswered. Fortunately, resources are available to help here, too.
Fernández is a marketing associate for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has the task of introducing students and faculty in the sciences throughout the U.S. to a new resource: the Minority Scientists Network (MiSciNet, nextwave.sciencemag.org/miscinet). MiSciNet is an online information center that provides support to the underrepresented minority student who is pursuing an education and a PhD career in the biomedical and physical sciences, including mathematics and engineering, says deputy director Yolanda George. It is a virtual place where these students can go to have their questions answered and feel a greater sense of belonging.
Centralized resource promotes community
AAAS's Education and Human Resources Directorate, with the AAAS-published Science magazine, established MiSciNet in 2002. Since then the network has become available at a growing number of colleges and universities nationwide. It takes the form of a weekly journal filled with articles on career development issues, news on meetings and special events, and bios of minority scientists, but it also posts internship and career opportunities. It complements GrantsNet (www.grantsnet.org), a financial-aid database that also includes Web resources, and Science's Next Wave, an online publication for graduate and post-doc students of diverse backgrounds throughout the world.
George says MiSciNet is designed for undergraduates, but also targets the faculty and administrators who work with them. It is written by AAAS journalists, scientists, academics and other industry professionals, and covers the personal lives of people with science degrees as well. "Our focus is students, administration, mentors and the scientific community," editor Robin Arnette says. "We try to print information that will bring a sense of community to students of color and provide them with role models. A lot of students are lonely and need to know that there are others like them out there."
Janerie Rodriguez is program administrator for a National Institutes of Health program for minority grad students at Hunter College of the City University of New York (New York, NY). She agrees with Arnette's assessment. "The network helps combat the feelings of isolation that can envelop minority science students, particularly those at larger institutions.
"The transition from undergraduate to graduate school, finding a supportive place to study or do research, and balancing education, career and family are among the most important topics addressed by the network," she says.
At the MiSciNet portal, students can also send inquiries to a mentor team, which fields questions about everything from how to handle office politics in a new job to deciding whether or not to continue a PhD program when interests change. Rodriguez estimates that about 45 percent of the students in her program use the network regularly. Those she speaks with report that the "Ask Dr Clemmons" column, to which students can write for school or career advice, is very popular.
Finding funding and opportunities
One recent enhancement of the network has made it possible for users to click directly into specific fields such as engineering and mathematics to find out about funding, scholarships and fellowships. Fernández has found that students don't realize just how many scholarships are out there until they visit the website. "They are all going to have to pay for graduate school, so when they learn how many scholarships there are, I think they have more hope," he says.
MiSciNet helps faculty find career-counseling information for students interested in pursuing a PhD in the biomedical and physical sciences. It lists summer research and graduate school opportunities for undergraduate students, and fellowship and financial-aid information for graduate students. The network also helps faculty learn effective mentoring techniques.
Spreading the message
In the fall of 2004 MiSciNet enlisted faculty and student campus representatives at forty-two colleges to get the word out about the network. The representatives teach others how the network's resources can be used for classes, seminars and career days.
Student campus reps, who receive stipends from AAAS, host one or more MiSciNet events, such as informational workshops for student-focused programs like the National Institute of General Medical Sciences' Bridges to the Future program, Minority Access to Research Careers, Minority Biomedical Research Support and more. The student reps also distribute and post MiSciNet materials, provide feedback for evaluation, and write essays about their own college experiences for posting on the network.
Fernández oversees the reps and meets with many of them during his travels to colleges and trade shows. "We have students in all different majors and they're all responding positively," he says.
As of January 2005 MiSciNet averaged 2,700 visitors monthly. That's an impressive number, but the organizers realize that there are many students the network has not yet reached. George points out that, "A lot of students simply don't know about it, so we're planning an e-mail campaign to our membership."
In its first two years, MiSciNet exhibited at professional meetings and on-campus workshops and advertised in professional and career journals. The new campus rep program and the e-mail campaign will help spread the word. A team of AAAS representatives is in the process of visiting campuses around the country to make in-person presentations that will increase awareness even more.
MiSciNet is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Minority Opportunities in Research Division of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (www.nigms. nih.gov/minority), the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. GrantsNet is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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