National Research Mentoring Network for a Diverse Biomedical Workforce

The work conducted under this subcontract by Dr. Richard McGee will focus on the development and deployment of training for Career Coaches who are working primarily with undergraduate and graduate students. The approach would be modeled after the coaching group design that Dr. McGee and his group have piloted and established as very effective through their previously funded NIH Director’s Pathfinder Award to Promote Diversity in the Scientific Workforce, and their ongoing NIH-support projects. What will be different from the currently funded work will be to revise the Coaching Group model for use with undergraduate students and leaders/key faculty of undergraduate and graduate research training at their home institution. A major thrust will be to develop Coaching Institutes to build the skills of these individual they can then use in their programs. The BUILD programs to be funded in a companion to the NRMN will be a primary emphasis. Additionally, Coaching Institutes will be developed and conducted at scientific, national or regional meetings who do not have access to active programs at their home campuses. The first year will be devoted to: 1) developing materials to be used for the Coaching Institute; 2) introductions of the methodology to partners in the NRMN; 3) identification of venues in which to conduct the Coaching Institutes (such as national scientific or professional development meetings, scientific societies, regional meetings with minority-serving institutions, etc.); 4) planning for conduct of Coaching Institutes in years 2-5. Work in years 2-5 would include conducting the Coaching Institutes, and refining methods to improve their effectiveness.