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Program Evaluations

Thank you for your interest in the UTSA RISE program. After a long run at UTSA, the RISE program has come to an end. Undergraduate training positions continue in our MARC program and PhD positions in our new IMSD at UTSA program. Thank you!

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 RISE Program, and its associated RISE-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 (RISE UG) or as successful Postdocs or Professionals (RISE PhD).
  • 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 RISE program reporting period is from April 1 through March 31; however, since the report is due in February, some of the activities that occur in late February and early March must be reported prior to their completion.

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).

Summary Paragraph

What NIH wants in the Summary Paragraph is what you've done in the last reporting period only (April 1 through March 31, so you will be reporting for 2 months in the future):

  • Program name and when you entered the program.
  • Degrees working toward or held or completed (put your current major(s)/minor(s) here).
  • Mentor(s) that you've had in the applicable time period and a description of your research project and progress.
  • Coursework with grades (include the title of the class as well - NIH doesn't know what BIO 3433 is). List completed courses and courses currently enrolled in.
  • Conferences attended and presentations made in the applicable time period.
  • Abstracts, papers, and patents in which you've been an author/inventor that were published in the applicable time period and worked on while you were supported by the RISE program, including your role on papers (e.g. designed or conducted experiment, analyzed data, drafted paper).
  • Academic awards in the applicable time period (Dean's List, Goldwater Scholarship, Gordon Scholar, Presidential Scholarship, Terry Scholar, Top Scholar, Truman Scholar, etc.). Include a short description of non-obvious awards.
  • Fellowships or other support in the applicable time period (BME Research Fellowship, NSF GRFP Awardee, OUR Fellowship, etc.).
  • Workshops attended in the applicable time period. Generally describe that you've completed: RISE courses/training series and longer RISE trainings (Leadership, Budgeting, Introduction to Teaching). PhD students list Summer Professional Development Series, Grant Writing Course, Intro to College Teaching, and similar. Add any other cool trainings and career development activities in which you've participated.
  • Leadership experiences and Broader Impact

Summary Paragraph Examples

(reporting period: April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019)

John Doe entered the UTSA RISE training program in June 2018. He is an undergraduate sophomore majoring in Biomedical Engineering. He began his undergraduate education at the University of Texas at El Paso where he completed some undergraduate coursework before transferring to UTSA in Spring 2018. He currently has a 3.73 UTSA GPA and 3.82 Overall GPA. During the reporting period, he completed 6 credits in Summer 2018, taking United States History: Civil War Era to Present (A) and Civil Rights in Texas and America (A), and 16 credits in Fall 2018, taking Physiology for Biomedical Engineering (A), Applied Engineering Analysis I (B), Probability and Statistics for the Biosciences (A), Physics for Scientists and Engineers II lecture and lab (A), and Statics (B). In Spring 2019, he is currently enrolled in Biomechanics I, Biomaterials I, Cellular Biology for Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Laboratory I, and Thermodynamics I. At UTSA, he works for Dr. Joseph Smith, a professor with the department of Biomedical Engineering. His project title is XXXX. The goal of this research is to XXXX. He presented his work his work as a poster at the UTSA Final Summer Presentations, UTSA College of Sciences Research Conference in October 2018, and the National Conference of the Society for Native Americans in Science in San Antonio, TX in November 2018. He has one first author abstract and is a co-author on another. He is a Presidential Scholar and has been on the President's List due to his exceptional grades for the last two semesters. He completed the RISE-sponsored Leadership Training and Introduction to College Teaching over the reporting period. He is presently Vice President of the UTSA Chapter of SACNAS and participates in various outreach activities.

(reporting period: April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019)

Jane Doe entered the UTSA RISE training program in June 2016. She will graduate in May 2019 with an undergraduate degree in Psychology. She has a 3.75 overall GPA and will graduate with Highest Honors from the UTSA Honors College. During the reporting period, she completed 15 credits in Fall 2018, taking Social Psychology (A), Cross-Cultural Psychology (A), Motivation and Emotion: Honors (A), Independent Study (A), and Honors Thesis (A). In Spring 2019, she he is currently enrolled in Helping Skills, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence, Physiological Psychology, and Honors Thesis. At UTSA, she worked for Dr. Joseph Smith, a Clinical Psychologist with the UTSA department of Psychology. Her project and Honors Thesis was titled XXXX. 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). In Fall 2018, she presented her UTSA work at the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA) Convention in Houston, TX and the National Conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science in San Antonio, TX. In Spring 2019, she presented her summer work at the Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry Showcase at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has been on the UTSA Academic Dean's list in all semesters and is a UTSA Presidential Scholar. By virtue of outstanding research throughout her undergraduate career, she was selected by the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts to be included in the College Academy of Undergraduate Research Associates (AURA). Finally, she was awarded the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in Spring 2019. She was admitted to five doctoral programs and has selected to attend the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at Yale University in Fall 2019. Her long term goal is to be a professor at a research-intensive institution.

(reporting period: April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019)

Jane Doe is a third year doctoral trainee in the UTSA Neurobiology PhD program, with an expected graduation date of Spring 2021. She entered the RISE program in August 2017 and presently has a 4.0 GPA. She is a UTSA Presidential Research Scholar. Her research mentor is Dr. Joseph Smith and her work focuses on XXX. During the reporting period, she completed 5 credits of Doctoral Research, 3 credits of Supervised Teaching, and 1 credit of Neuro Journal Club. She is presently taking 5 credits of Doctoral Research, a 1 credit Biology Colloquium, and a 3 credit Writing for Doctoral Students course. In Summer 2018, she completed the RISE Professional Development for PhD Students Series as well as the RISE-sponsored Grant Writing Workshop. She presented her research at three major conferences during the reporting period: the International Mind, Brain and Education Society Meeting in Los Angeles, CA in September 2018, the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Conference in San Antonio, TX in October of 2018, and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting in San Francisco, CA in March 2019. She submitted a publication for review as a first author to the Journal of Brain and Language in February 2019. She has participated in several workshops including the Sarnecka Lab Block Writing Workshop in Summer 2018, the Navigating Mind, Brain, and Education: Preconference for Aspiring Leaders in September 2018, and Creating a Link Between Graduate Studies and Your Professional Identity in September 2018. She plans to graduate in Spring 2021 and pursue a career in research.

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