Jazmin Garcia-Malagon is in her second year at Waubonsee Community College, training to become a nurse practitioner.
“English is not my first language, so I see how my family struggled speaking English in the medical environment," she said. "So, I want to help other Spanish people to be more confident in their appointments.”
Like many who attend community colleges, she’s also a first-generation college student. She had no idea that research experiences would even be an option — and she certainly didn’t think, in her first year, she’d be working on cancer research published in a peer-reviewed journal.
For those asking, the title is Predicting Neoantigens for Cancer Using Next-Generation IEDB & CEDAR Tools, and it just published this fall.
“I'm first generation," she said, "so I needed to explain to my family that I'm working, but this work is not for my class. It's like an extra project. This is not homework, but it's important. I need to do this.”
Garcia-Malagon learned about the project from one of her teachers, Waubonsee biology professor, Dr. Sheela Vemu. She sees it as an extracurricular built into her courses. It’s also a mentored relationship where she helps students realize they don’t just study science, they can do science. That, as she puts it, the information they read in their textbooks isn’t just passed down by gods.
“For them to have a glimpse," said Vemu, "that what you see in there is not just written in stone, it is an iterative process that was done by individuals just like them."
Studies show that students who participate in research are twice as likely to graduate in four years and 10 times as likely to graduate within six years -- and low-income, students of color, & first-gen students benefit particularly well.
Dr. Vemu’s Waubonsee students won third-place at a STEM poster competition for their recently-published work. Peace Koudjiwan just transferred to Northern Illinois University after finishing at Waubonsee. She worked on the project analyzing protein sequences.
“I believe," said Koudjiwan, "the research was one thing that opened a big door for me."
She says it helped her get scholarships and prepared her for the NIU nursing program she’s in now.
Matthew Katele was another student researcher. He transferred to the University of Illinois - Chicago to finish his degree in biochemistry. He, like Jazmin and Peace, had no idea this would be an option.
“I wasn't really expecting to be able to do research, especially at community college," he said. "It's one of those things that's not really talked about, and it's a bit more difficult to find those resources."
Community college students in general don’t have nearly as much access to undergraduate research experiences compared to their counterparts at four-year colleges and universities.
Jim Hewlett is a community college professor and executive director of the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative. He helps community colleges launch research programs. When the initiative started, more than a decade ago, they only worked with six schools, but now they have well over 120 in their network.
“We have seen our membership of community college faculty members increase over the last five years," said Lindsay Currie, with the Council on Undergraduate Research.
The Council helps instructors, including Dr. Vemu, embed research into their curriculum and secure grants. That way, community college students, who often work and support their family while attending school, can have more resources to do their research.
But, Hewlett says, there’s not a lot of good data on exactly how many community college students do research. Not every school works with his group.
For example, a national survey about student engagement asks students at four-year institutions if they've worked on a research project, but, "that question on the community college survey asked, ‘Did you take a remedial math course?’" Hewlett said. "Literally, it was not collecting any information about it. So, in my brain, the people who designed that survey came in with this assumption that community colleges don't do undergraduate research.”
But, they do! And these teachers want to make it easier for community college students to find these opportunities. Hewlett says most community colleges who offer research bake it into classes. It’s how you make sure students don’t need to look for it, the experiences are waiting for them. And he says it’s not just a fun and interactive way to learn -- it’s the most effective way.
