2010 Bridge to the Doctorate Retreat
This year’s Bridge to the Doctorate Retreat was held once again at the University of Delaware, College of Maritime Studies, Virden Center located in Lewes, Delaware. The twelve new Bridge Fellows (Cohort Eight) that will be attending Drexel University in the fall semester were joined by fellows from Delaware State University, Temple University, former Drexel University fellows, faculty and administration from many of the Alliance institutions.
The additional dimension of Graduate fellows from the HBCU Graduate Fellowship and the National Minority fellowship brought the total attendance to a very large and warm gathering of early-stage and mature Graduate Candidates at different stages of the academic and professional development.
Stephen R. Cox, Co-PI and Project Director, Office of the Provost, introduced himself and gave the history of the LSAMP initiative and the genesis of the Bridge to the Doctorate Program funded by the National Science Foundation. Participating Faculty and Administrators included: Dr. Teck-Kah Lim, Professor of Physics and Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Studies; Dr. Fred Allen, professor of Biomedical Engineering and Science; Dr. Jonathan Spanier, Associate Professor of Materials Engineering and Science; Maurice Baynard, Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical Science and Health Systems from Drexel University; Dr. Cherese Winstead, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Delaware State University; and Dean Michael Vaughan, Senior Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs, College of Engineering , University of Delaware.
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Dr. Tek Kah-Lim |
Dr. Fred Allen |
Dr. Cherese Winstead |
While the individual topics included: Getting Started with Your Career, Research: The Rules of the Game, Paths to the Ph.D. and Beyond, Getting the Most Out of Your Advisor Relationship, Building the Mindset for a Successful Graduate Experience, one of the most exciting discussions emerged in the panel discussions with former Bridge Fellow now Dr. Quincy Brown, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Bowie State University; David Delaine, Ph.D. Candidate, Electrical Engineering at Drexel University; Virginia Kocieda, Ph.D. Candidate, Temple University; Raphael Mulero, Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University; and Tori Owens, MS Candidate, Biology at Delaware State University. Clearly the dominant theme in the comments from the panelist suggested that the opportunity to have support from faculty and administration and the collective strength of the cohort impacted the stamina for the students to persist successfully. Each panelist identified that commitment, dedication and determination shaped the best possible outcomes for success. By far this retreat was one of the best.
