GETTING IT RIGHT: DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE PATHWAY FOR EDUCATING UNDERREPRESENTED PUERTO RICAN STUDENTS IN GEOSCIENCES

A weeklong strategic planning workshop was held in Puerto Rico with the objective of developing novel educational models, or adapting existing ones, that are necessary for building a comprehensive coupled
education and research program at minority serving institutions in Hispanic Serving Institutions in the Island. This collaborative effort represents a strong and diverse partnership, led by Maryland Sea Grant and including primary workshop organizers from Universidad del Turabo (UT) and Universidad Metropolitana (UMET), both in Puerto Rico (PR) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). Our overarching goal was to create a pathway to STEM success that will lead to an increase in the number of underrepresented students from minority serving institutions participating in geoscience-relevant disciplines and careers. The workshop brought together new and existing Puerto Rico partners in government, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to discuss and develop an educational framework for creating a new linked academic year and summer research curriculum with the goals that such a program would increase Hispanic participation in STEM education and grow a geosciences literate workforce. The workshop date was May 26 to June 2, 2015, consisting of a two-day symposium and strategic planning meeting followed by 5 days of fieldwork and seminars, and including UT, UMET and UMCES faculty, 16 undergraduates and 3 graduate students. In this speech, we will present the results of the extensive evaluation and assessment of the workshop and will include significant changes withdrawn from students’ participation.