Development and Assessment of an Undergraduate Research Program at a Two-Year, Rural, Hispanic-Serving Institution: The Essential Role of Partnerships

Abstract

This article reviews the importance of multiple stakeholders in program development, including the essential role of university and community partnerships.Yakima Valley College—a two-year, Hispanic-serving institution—partnered with four-year universities, agricultural centers, businesses, and federal and state agencies to develop a streamlined undergraduate research experience in which students work closely with a faculty mentor in a STEM field on summer projects of 120 hours each.