A major funding cut has closed the books on the Health Professions Partnership Initiative (HPPI), an 11-year old program specifically focused on recruitment and aid for low-income, first-generation and minority students with an interest in the health professions.
Over the past several years, the program’s funding—which is primarily from outside institutions—has dwindled, leaving the University fiscally responsible for its survival. Beginning in 1996 as a partnership between Wesleyan and the University of Connecticut Health Center, HPPI received funding grants through UConn from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute of Health, and the Connecticut Department of Education. According to Professor of Biology and HPPI Director Jim Donady, UConn provided more than $1 million for the program at Wesleyan over the course of the last 11 years.
Ultimately, however, President Bush’s budgetary cuts in federal funding for education decreased UConn’s funding capabilities, and so HPPI was cut from the research university’s budget in 2006. Facing such obstacles, Donady said, Wesleyan administrators decided last year to gather funds and continue the program for a bit longer.
“When funding was cut, UConn hoped Wesleyan would be able to find funding on our own, and Wesleyan did fund a pre-college program, though we knew this funding was on a one-year basis,” Donady said. “I was assured that the University would attempt to find outside support for the program. I had hoped that Wesleyan would identify an outside source who would offer that funding, but no serious initiative was produced.”
Donady believes that HPPI has increased the number of minority and low-income science majors, a specific goal of the University. A recent story in Wesleyan Magazine highlights this ambition, citing Wesleyan’s low percentage of science majors and the goal of “retention of students who take introductory courses, particularly among minority and first-generation college students.”
“Having HPPI as an introduction to these fields meant that students would later major in those areas,” Donady said. “HPPI has had a demonstrable effect on increase in science majors.”
Donady realizes, however, that the school has many financial considerations to attend to.
“It’s a matter of institutional priority and limited funds,” he said. “The cut in funding is disappointing. The program has had extra success in producing MDs, PhDs, dentists, and public health officials. This is a sad loss.”
Tameir Holder ’08, a psychology major and HPPI member, says that HPPI was helpful in giving her access to research opportunities. Holder has conducted research at the University of Connecticut Health Center, the University of Michigan Medical School, and Stanford’s Center for Biomedical Ethics, which have focused her future career interests. Currently she is the Co-chair of MAPS (Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students), an organization created as a resource for minority students on campus with a common interest in pursuing medical careers.
“Participating in HPPI was essential for guiding the structure of our undergraduate careers,” Holder said. “Collaboratively, the workshops, classes and seminars provided great networking skills and insight into the breadth of professions offered in the medical field. It’s a resource that should remain available to Wesleyan students.”
Si Hyung Woo ’08, a pre-med biology major and HPPI member, is disappointed that the program that gave him confidence to pursue a medical career is coming to an end.
“With the ever present existence of health disparities among the different racial groups in America, HPPI is the program that could shrink the health gap by producing more minority health professionals,” Woo said. “Cutting funding for HPPI is only exacerbating the minority health crisis.”
In the end, there have not been alternative sources of funding to maintain all of HPPI’s programs. When HPPI member Porsche Bonner ’11 heard about the program’s end, she suggested one last push to maintain the program.
“In order to get funding back for HPPI, we can make the Wesleyan community and alumni more aware of the program, what it does, and why we need the money,” she said. “Maybe we can find a way to either raise the money or get a department or organization to sponsor the program.”
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