AK UNiTE - Partnering for Alaska Students
by Growing Recruitment and Retention through Undergraduate Research

In 2020, the AK UNiTE team received an incubator grant that sought to address the challenge that Alaskan educators struggle to connect Alaskan students to local research opportunities to help retention of those students in STEM fields. The overarching goal of this work was to improve the recruitment and retention of under-served Alaskans in the sciences by developing a network connecting faculty and students to research in the locations where they attend undergraduate classes.

The objectives of the incubator were 1) To identify community partnerships with local research projects (local tribal councils, non-profits, state and federal agencies), 2) Train faculty and network collaborators in place-based education, CURE development, and cross-cultural communication, 3) Share resources with current Alaskan researchers at a state-wide symposium, 4) Develop a network informational hub within SERC website, and 5) Create an evaluation plan of our network.

To achieve these objectives, the project developed resources to help connect students and researchers across Alaska.

• Research Across Alaska: This map-based tool allowed researchers to submit projects for which they needed students and students to search through the projects to find ones they were interested in participating in.  Then it facilitated making connections between students and researchers.
• Students: Information about research opportunities and becoming connected to the network of researchers helped students develop a sense of belonging in the community.
• Past Events: The project hosted several events that brough the network together to develop a shared sense of purpose around recruitment and retention.