Program features grad school

By Brad Ramsay
Summer Reporter

Minority undergraduate students, who generally are underrepresented in graduate programs, are able to get a taste of graduate school through Purdue-Minority Access to Research Careers/Access Internally for Minorities Summer Research Program.

Meredith Rodwell, the program coordinator, said this is the 21st year of the program and it has worked out well, considering it can boast 37 individuals that have achieved a Ph.D.

Victor Rodwell, program director, said the program was developed and implemented by himself as well as Dwight Lewis, director of minority programs for the Graduate School and former faculty member, Luther Williams.

Meredith said the research program varies from student to student they offer a lot of opportunities in the sciences, engineering and liberal arts.

What the program does is pair a student with a volunteer faculty member in a one on one scenario. The student aids and learns from the faculty member in the research.

Meredith said the Purdue-Minority Access to Research Careers/Access Internally for Minorities Summer Research Program gives students confidence and shows them what it takes to get through graduate school.

Victor said undergraduates come from all over the United States and beyond to take part in the program. This year they have several from Puerto Rico, Louisiana and as far away as California. In the past, students have come from Hawaii and even Guam.

Meredith said the also get help with the Graduate Record Exam, the test all students that apply to graduate school have to take. In some of the sessions they go over the exam and tell the students what to expect from it.

The program is generally a one-time thing, said Meredith but a small percentage come back to repeat it. They have also used the program as a bridge for some students that have been accepted to graduate school and will be beginning it in the fall.

The program has buoyed up and down in size over the course of its existence, said Victor. It started with a small number of students and increased to the size of 50 and but eventually dropped to about 35.

The program started out fairly narrow in who could be accepted. In the beginning, only undergraduates from other schools were allowed to attend, but in 1982 they allowed Purdue students to participate.

The students in the 2000 program are in the halfway point of their program, and are doing quite well. Meredith said, "They are a great group and we are really delighted to have them."