Binghamton University welcomes underrepresented scholars for summer research program

BINGHAMTON, NY – Fifteen underrepresented scholars from three community colleges have arrived at Binghamton University for a five-to-eight week summer research program. The program will culminate with a poster session to be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 28, in Old Union Hall of the University Union, on the Binghamton University campus. The session will allow participants the opportunity to display their research accomplishments using text and graphics.

The scholars, participants in the SUNY Upstate Bridges to the Baccalaureate program, directed by professors Lisa Savage and Patricia Di Lorenzo, are paired with Binghamton University faculty mentors to conduct a variety of experiments and research projects.

This is the 21st year Binghamton University has participated in the SUNY Upstate Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program, which was established to increase the number of underrepresented scholars pursuing and earning baccalaureate degrees in the biomedical sciences. Students accepted into this year’s program are from Monroe, Onondaga and Westchester community colleges.

The program guarantees Binghamton University admission to underrepresented students who have maintained a 2.7 grade point average in science courses and overall at selected community colleges. Such individuals include U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are African American, Hispanic-American, Native-American and natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands, or individuals with disabilities or individuals from a disadvantaged background.

Bridges students receive a combination of mentoring, tutoring and financial support throughout the program, as well as the opportunity for hands-on research in the labs of their Binghamton faculty mentors. Throughout the program, co-coordinators at each of the community colleges work closely with Binghamton staff and faculty to build ties that will lead to student success there and later at a baccalaureate institution.

The program will follow those who return to their community college for another year of courses, and Bridges will support their progress. When they are ready, Bridges will help them transfer to a four-year institution to complete their baccalaureate degree in the sciences.

The program has hosted 345 students in the last 20 years, 85 percent of which have transferred to a four-year institution. Of these students, 87 percent went on to earn a four-year degree. There are currently 159 Bridges students in biomedical fields.

Those students who are ready to transfer will be encouraged to apply for admission to a four-year institution this fall. The program guarantees Binghamton University admission to qualified Bridges students from the participating community colleges.

For more information on Binghamton’s program, visit https://www.binghamton.edu/bridges/.