Program Evaluation

The RISE Scholars Program at UTEP provides increased access to educational and research training activities for underrepresented minority (URM) students interested in the biomedical sciences, and aims to increase the number of underrepresented minority undergraduate students who are prepared for and choose to pursue careers in biomedical fields. RISE is funded by the National Institutes of Health. CIERP’s evaluation of the program uses an objectives-based approach, but also incorporates a focus on improvements. This method has allowed the program’s director to use data from formative evaluations throughout the grant period to make modifications to activities and help ensure that the objectives of the program will be achieved. Read more about the RISE program here.

Border Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program 

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bridges grant to the University provides funding for a partnership effort between UTEP and El Paso Community College (EPCC) that offers community college students the opportunity to conduct research with UTEP faculty in biomedical fields. Bridges aims to increase the rate of students from EPCC who transfer to four-year institutions and successfully complete a baccalaureate degree in biomedical sciences. For the past several years, CIERP’s evaluation team has assisted the Principal Investigators with an annual evaluation of the program from the perspective of student and faculty participants that also includes performance metrics in its analysis of the program’s effectiveness.
 

SCORE is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is helping UTEP build research capacity in the biomedical sciences. Through a competitive process, faculty members in the biomedical sciences areas were selected for professional development opportunities that will enhance research productivity. In addition, student involvement in research is central to measures of the program’s effectiveness. For the past several years, CIERP’s evaluation team has assisted the Principal Investigators of this grant evaluate progress on the grant’s multiple goals.