MARC Program Evaluations

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Program evaluations help improve the program and are required by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Performance assessments include:

• Internal Evaluations (performed by program)
  • Activity Assessments: you provide feedback on how a new activity is doing and how it can be improved
  • Self-Assessment: you rate your own experiences and progress
    ★Incoming Evaluation ★Short Semester Check-ups ★Annual Progress Report Assessments ★Summer Program Impact Assessments ★Outgoing Assessment
  • Mentor Assessments: your PI reports on your progress
    ★Semester Mentor Assessments
• External Evaluations (performed by visiting evaluator, Kurt Steuck)
  • Individual meetings with graduating students
  • Annual focus group discussions with active trainees

We thank our mentor and student participants for their cooperation in supporting our evaluation efforts.

More Information on the Annual Progress Report

The UTSA MARC Program, and its associated UTSA MARC-2 Program, must submit annual evaluation reports to the NIH that detail what has happened during the preceding year of the program:

• If we have implemented our activities and how well they are being run.
• Whether the activities and program have helped students grow as scientists and future graduate school applicants.
• What feedback has been received from students and the external evaluator and how we're improving the program in response to these.
• How and what people are doing after graduation.

The MARC program reporting period is from October 15 through October 15; however, since the report is due October 15, information for the report must be completed by October 1. Make sure you limit the accomplishments you report to the proper timeframe. For example, if the SACNAS or ABRCMS conference is held after October 14, you would report that your abstract was accepted for the conference rather than stating you presented at the conference.

To help us to complete the Annual Report, we need several things from you:

• Answers to multiple choice and short essay questions on skills, your development as a scientist, and recommendations on how to improve the program.
• A CV.
• A summary paragraph of your annual accomplishments.
• After you graduate: ongoing feedback about your activities and what types of funding/support you receive (NIH Bridge, NIH KIrschstein, NIH Postbacc, NSF GRFP, mentor's funding, minority supplement, etc).

• MARC Pre-PhD Honors Research Training Program
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• Contact Us

Summary Paragraph Examples

First Year Trainee Summary Paragraph Example

(reporting period: October 15, 2017 - October 14, 2018)

John Doe entered the UTSA MARC training program in June 2018. He is an undergraduate junior majoring in Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology. He has a 3.78 overall GPA. During the reporting period, he completed 3 credits in Summer 2018, taking Probability and Statistics for the Biosciences (A). In Fall 2018, he is currently enrolled in Neurobiology and Neurobiology Lab, Biochemistry and Biochemistry Lab, Brain and Behavior, and Cognitive Psychology. At UTSA, he works for Dr. Joseph Smith, a cognitive neuroscientist with the department of Psychology. His project title is XXXX. He presented this work as a poster at the UTSA End of Summer Presentations and the UTSA College of Sciences Research Conference in October 2018; his poster abstract was accepted for the National Conference of the Society for Native Americans in Science in San Antonio, TX in November 2018. He is a Presidential Scholar and has been on the President's List and UTSA Academic Dean's list in all semesters. He is presently Vice President of the UTSA Chapter of SACNAS and participates in various outreach activities.

Second Year Trainee Summary Paragraph Example

(reporting period: October 15, 2017 - October 14, 2018)

Jane Doe entered the UTSA MARC training program in June 2017. She is an undergraduate senior majoring in Physics. She has a 3.85 overall GPA. During the reporting period, she completed 15 credits in Fall 2017, taking Thermal Physics (A), Electricity and Magnetism (A), Modern Optics (A), Mathematical Physics II (B), and Texas Politics and Society (A), and 15 credits in Spring 2018, taking Physics Research Laboratory (A), Electrodynamics (A), Quantum Mechanics I (A), Critical Thinking (A), and Society and Social Issues (A). In Fall 2018, she is currently enrolled in Quantum Mechanics II, Introduction to Mass Spectrometry, Nanotechnology, Molecular Biophysics, and United States History: Civil War Era to Present. At UTSA, she works for Dr. Joseph Smith, a professor with the department of Physics and Astronomy. Her project title is XXXX. In 2017, she won the SACNAS Presentation award for her summer 2017 work at XYZ. In Summer 2018, she attended the ABC Summer Research Internship Program and worked with Dr. Amy Jones; her research project was titled XXXX. The research focused on XXXX (1 sentence). She presented her summer work as a poster at the UTSA College of Sciences Research Conference in October 2018 and her poster abstract was accepted for the National Conference of the Society for Native Americans in Science in San Antonio, TX in November 2018. She has one first author abstract and is a co-author on another. She is a Presidential Scholar and has been on the President's List and UTSA Academic Dean's list in all semesters. She is presently Vice President of the UTSA Chapter of SACNAS and participates in various outreach activities.

Graduate Summary Paragraph Example

(reporting period: October 15, 2017 - October 14, 2018)

Jane Doe completed her MARC training in Spring 2018 and graduated Magna Cum Laude with Highest Honors with Bachelor's degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. In Fall 2017, she completed Advanced Physiology (A), Advanced Physiology Laboratory (A), Foundation-Doc Program Prep (A), Moving Toward the Ph.D. (A), Honors Seminar: Clinical Medicine (A), and a graduate level course Advanced Organic Chemistry (A). In Spring 2018, she completed Genetics Laboratory (A), Microbiology Laboratory (B), Advanced Clinical Medicine and Pathology (Honors), Sci Integrity Com & Crit Think (A), Independent Study(Q) (Honors) (A+), and Data Analysis and Visual (B). She attended the 2017 Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium at Rice University in November 2017 and won best overall presentation. She was also a recipient of many scholarships, including the Dean's Fund for Excellence Award and Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science travel award. With her UTSA PI, Dr. Joseph Smith, a professor with the department of Biology, she completed her Honors Thesis on XXXX. She is a Presidential Scholar and has been on the President's List and UTSA Academic Dean's list in all semesters. She was admitted to five doctoral programs and has selected to attend the Ph.D. program in Biology at Harvard University in Fall 2019. Her long term goal is to be a research scientist at a private company.