The Office of Faculty and Graduate Student Retention, Inclusion and Success, in collaboration with the Provost Office, is hosting the Access and Support for Successful Undergraduate Research Experience (ASSURE) Program for its third summer. This eight-week multidisciplinary summer research experience allows undergraduate students to conduct research under the guidance of a faculty mentor from their field of interest. In the previous two years, the program had three and four students, respectively. This year the number of participating students increased to twelve.
These twelve students were recruited from six partnering institutions including three students from the University of Detroit Mercy, three from the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, two from the University of Puerto Rico at Recinto de Rio Piedras, two from Jackson State University, one from Saint Augustine's University, and one from Kentucky State University. One of this year’s participants has been accepted to graduate school at Kent State University and will begin his studies in chemistry this fall. Additionally, two students are in the process of applying to graduate programs at Kent State University.
The ASSURE students will work with faculty advisors from several departments while at Kent State University, including the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Psychology, Health Sciences, Geography, Geology, Physics and the College of Public Health. In addition to conducting relevant research in their fields of study, the students will participate in professional development workshops and social activities to encourage discussion and engagement with students from different research areas. During the closing ceremony, the students will conduct a three-minute presentation that will include their research from the summer.
The ASSURE program will run from June 10 to August 2, 2019.