The Program
The Iowa First Nations Summer Program is a two-week
residential life science program at the University of Iowa. This
program focuses on chemistry and biotechnology. The
students are furnished with lab space from the College of Medicine
in the Medical Education department to conduct experiments necessary for their projects which expands rudimentary or basic understanding of several basic major chemical concepts. Experimantation is crucial to any study of science and so is reasearch. The students attend daily classes and are divided into
small, manageable groups called Clans. Each Clan is required
to research a specific application of chemistry and report not only to your lab mates, but also to others who may be interested in your research topic.
The research project will have two components; one is a visual presentation that represents the area of chemistry that you researched. The second component is to write a mini-journal article describing the importance of the area of chemistry in which the research is done.
In addition to the research, the students visit various University of Iowa departments that are science related. For example, they will visit the Internal Medicine department at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the College of Pharmacy to perform a Lotion Lab, the College of Nursing Simulation Lab.
Technology is an integral part of this program. Students are
required to apply technology to their regular coursework and to
develop computer presentations about their research projects.
Program History
The Iowa First
Nations (IFN) Comprehensive Enrichment Program is a continuation of
one of the sixteen original American Indian Science & Engineering (AISES)
Comprehensive Enrichment Programs (CEP) which were established
in 1988. With the support of several universities throughout the
country, the primary focus of these programs was to encourage more
Native Americans in the secondary years of education to seek
professional careers in the science and engineering related fields.
The University of Iowa began its participation with the first Life
Science program in 1990. After AISES discontinued its participation in
support of high school summer programs in 1998, The University of Iowa (UI) continued its support of life science education through this program.
The success of
this program is accredited to the many contributions and support of
many University of Iowa departments and offices, the
state of Iowa, the city of Iowa City, all of the Native American
tribes involved, and the devotion of all the people that donate
their time and energy to support this wonderful and unique opportunity.
Photo Gallery
2006 Staff
Program
Dates
The 2007 program
will run June 9 - 23.
Eligibility
and Admission
Students with some lab experience and science background and entering 8 th or 9 th grade are eligible to attend.
Application Materials
Costs
A $25 program fee
will be charged to all program participants. If you can not pay the $25 program fee, we do have scholarships available. Please contact Marisa Moore for more information, 319-335-0591 or marisa-moore@uiowa.edu.
Travel
Students are
expected to pay their own travel costs to and from the program.
Financial assistance for travel costs may be available for those
students who demonstrate need. This assistance will be awarded on a
case-by-case basis. Students who fly to Iowa will be escorted to and
from the airport by the program's Resident Assistants. It may be possible to arrange a charter bus on a case-by-case basis for groups traveling from a concentrated area.
Housing and
Meals
Students will live
on campus in The University of Iowa residence halls. They will
share an air-conditioned room with another program participant.
Students have a full board plan in the newly remodeled cafeteria in
Burge Hall. Students are supervised by two male and two female Resident Assistants.
Social and Recreational Activities
When the students are not doing
class work, they are participating in social and/or other academic
activities. These activities include movie nights, basketball games, a trip to a waterpark, scrapbooking sessions, etc.
Schedule and
Supervision
Students will be
in class or on field trips from 9:00 AM to approximately 3:00 PM
every weekday. During this time they will be supervised by the
instructor and teaching assistant. In the evenings students will
attend mandatory academic activities (such as computer classes,
career panels, faculty seminars, ethic
discussions, etc.) or mandatory social activities (such as IMAX
movies, ice skating, etc.) During this time they
will be supervised by their Resident
Assistants. On weekends students will also be supervised by their
resident assistants during structured recreational activities. At night students
will have a curfew which will be strictly enforced by the resident
assistants. The Resident Assistants will also transport students to
and from social activities and the various field trips. Students
will have some unsupervised free time. During those times when they
are not directly supervised, they are required to be with at least
two other students in the program and they are required to notify a
resident assistant as to where they are going and when they will
return.
Schedule
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