Since pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at UNC-Chapel Hill, Assistant Professor Rhonda Sharpe in the Department of Economics has worked closely with William "Sandy" Darity to identify and mentor economics undergraduates with the potential to complete doctoral studies in economics or related disciplines. Last summer Senior Economics major Brandon Rhone participated in the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (MURAP) at UNC-Chapel Hill with Darity as his mentor. Sandy Darity is also a Marsh Professor-at-Large at UVM.

In the summer of 2007, Brandon continued his research experience as a participant in the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program at UVM with Rhonda Sharpe as his mentor. Like MURAP, McNair's prepares participants for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities with the mission of increasing the number of Ph.D. degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society.

Brandon's research project reflects both MURAP's and McNair's mission as he investigated UVM's role in the doctoral pipeline by answering two important questions. First, how does UVM rank relative to other New England institutions with respect to producing undergraduates who go on to complete a doctorate degree? Second, how does UVM rank with respect to producing doctorates relative to other New England institutions? Brandon's analysis explores these questions from a race, gender, and ethnicity perspective. He finds that UVM ranks in the top 20 as an undergraduate feeder and producer of doctorates for all racial, gender, and ethnicities in the Life Sciences and Engineering. He will continue to work with Professors Darity and Sharpe during the academic year on a project funded by the Ford Foundation entitled "Obstacles to Faculty Diversity: Implications for Affirmative Actions." These opportunities have made Brandon more confident about his abilities and desire to complete doctoral studies. Professor Sharpe also embodies the teacher-scholar model so highly prized at UVM, both by bringing her scholarship into the classroom and by her active inclusion of undergraduate students in research.