Table 1.
Sample interview protocol
| 1. Tell me a little bit about your background: Where did you get your undergraduate degree, and what did you major in? |
| 2. How did you first hear about the Bridges program? [Did you know Dr. Y (MSI program coordinator) before enrolling?] |
| 3. At that point, how certain were you about wanting to get a Ph.D? |
| a. How clear was your sense of what you wanted to study? |
| 4. Did you have concerns ahead of time about enrolling in Bridges? What were they? |
| 5. What did you know about [midwestern institution] and [midwestern city] when you first enrolled in the program? |
| 6. This summer when you came to [midwestern state], where were you at in your graduate work at [MSI]? Had you started any of the research or the writing for your thesis? |
| 7. How was it decided who your mentor at [midwestern institution] would be? |
| a. Did you have any interaction with Dr. X [midwestern mentor] before you came up for the summer? |
| 8. Was there anything you did ahead of time to prepare for your summer in [state]? |
| 9. How was it decided what you would work on during your time in the lab? |
| a. How well prepared did you feel once you realized what you would be working on? |
| 10. Who else was working in Dr. X’s lab? |
| a. Who supervised your work? How much contact did you have with him/her? |
| b. How comfortable did you feel with the other people in Dr. X’s lab? |
| c. How often did you met with Dr. X? What sorts of things did you talk about? |
| 11. How did the lab work go? |
| a. If you had trouble understanding something or getting something to work properly, how comfortable did you feel asking for help? |
| b. How good were they at providing the help you needed? |
| c. What was you lab schedule like? |
| d. How did your lab experience that summer compare to what you thought it would be like? |
| e. Is there anything you wish you had known or been told about beforehand? |
| 12. Tell me about your poster presentation and how that went. |
| a. How easily were you able to take what you’d worked on during the summer and turn it into a presentation? |
| b. Had you ever done anything like that before? |
| c. How did you feel about your poster presentation and how it went? |
| 13. How comfortable did you feel living in [city] during the summer? |
| a. Where did you live? |
| b. Was it difficult being away from family and friends back home? |
| 14. Who was in charge of coordinating the program in [state] this summer? |
| a. How often did the Bridges students meet with Dr. X? |
| b. How often did you meet with [academic advisor]? |
| 15. What would you describe as the highlight of your summer experience? |
| 16. What were the most difficult or challenging things about this summer in [state]? |
| 17. Was there anything Dr. X or her lab group could have done to make it a better or more productive experience? |
| 18. How much contact do you have with other students in the Bridges program during the school year? |
| 19. Is interacting with other students in the program helpful to you? In what way? |
| 20. How much interaction do you have with Dr. Y? |
| a. What do you see his role in the program as being? |
| b. What sort of assistance or advice have you gotten from him? |
| c. Is there anything you think Dr. Y could be doing to be more effective in his role? |
| 21. Has your experience in [state] changed the way you approached your classes, your studying, or your research at [MSI]? In what way? |
| 22. What has been the most valuable or rewarding aspect of participating in this program? |
| 23. If there were things about the Bridges program that you could change, what would they be? |
| 24. What advice would you give to another [MSI] student who is thinking about enrolling in Bridges? |
| 25. If you knew they would listen, what advice would you give to a faculty mentor at [midwestern institution] who is thinking about taking an [MSI] student into his or her lab for the first time? |