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Advancing the Engineering Field: Opportunities to Support Transfer Students

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Two-year College Potpourri

Tagged Division

Two-Year College

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--29759

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/29759

Download Count

588

Paper Authors

biography

Vukica M. Jovanovic Old Dominion University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-8626-903X

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Dr. Vukica Jovanovic is an Associate Professor of Engineering Technology in Mechanical Engineering Technology Program. She holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University in Mechanical Engineering Technology, focus on Digital Manufacturing. Her research is focused on mechatronics, digital manufacturing, digital thread, cyber physical systems, broadening participation, and engineering education. She is a Director of Mechatronics and Digital Manufacturing Lab at ODU and a Lead Faculty of Mechatronics area of specialization. She worked as a Visiting Researcher at Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Disputanta, VA on projects focusing on digital thread and cyber security of manufacturing systems. She has funded research in broadening participation efforts of underrepresented students in STEM funded by Office of Naval Research, focusing on mechatronic pathways. She is part of the ONR project related to the additive manufacturing training of active military. She is also part of the research team that leads the summer camp to nine graders that focus on broadening participation of underrepresented students into STEM (ODU BLAST).

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Narketta Sparkman-Key Old Dominion University

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Dr. Narketta Sparkman-Key is an Assistant Professor of Human Services in the Counseling and Human Services department at Old Dominion University. She holds Doctorate of Philosophy in Human Services with a focus on Social and Community Services from Capella University. Her research focuses on furthering the professional identity of human service practitioners and define practice with diverse populations. She has a special interest in the education of non-traditional students and has targeted grants to advance the education and research to meet the needs of nontraditional students. She has over 20 years in the field of human services. She is formerly the membership chair of the National Organization for Human Services and reviewer for the Council for Standards in Human Service Education. She serves on the human service advisory committee for the City of Chesapeake and a certified parent educator through the Virginia Supreme Court. She holds the HS-BCP(Human Services Board Certified Practitioner) designation. She has also developed and led a service learning focused study abroad in Jamaica where she annually accompanies human service students to Montego Bay, Jamaica to develop self esteem among pregnant teens. Dr. Sparkman-Key received consecutive university grants to support her service to teen moms in Jamaica. She has been recognized for her accomplishments by the National Organization of Human Services and by former students who nominated her as "Most Inspiring Faculty². She was awarded the 2016 Broderick Diversity Champion award, 2016 Top 40 Under 40 Hampton Roads Award and the 2016 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. She has also been featured on Health and Human Services radio to share her perspectives on human services.

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Konstantin P. Cigularov Old Dominion University

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Dr. Konstantin Cigularov is an Associate Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology in the College of Sciences at Old Dominion University. He holds a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and a B.S. in Banking and Finance from the University of Economics in Bulgaria. As the Director of the Safety Management & Applied Research Lab, Dr. Cigularov has investigated various organizational issues related to leadership and culture, employee burnout and stress, as well as training programs and interventions. Dr. Cigularov has extensive experience with program design and evaluation and he has consulted numerous organizations, including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, on designing, evaluating, and disseminating effective interventions and training programs. He has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, which he uses to better understand and help organizations create and engender safer, healthier, and more fulfilling workplaces.

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Daniela Cigularova

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Bonita G. Anthony Old Dominion University

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Otilia Popescu Old Dominion University

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Dr. Otilia Popescu received the Engineering Diploma and M.S. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania, and the PhD degree from Rutgers University, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research interests are in the general areas of communication systems, control theory, and signal processing. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology, Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In the past she has worked for the University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at San Antonio, Rutgers University, and Politehnica University of Bucharest. She is a senior member of the IEEE, serves as associate editor for IEEE Communication Letters, and has served in the technical program committee for the IEEE ICC, WCNC, RWW, VTC, GLOBECOM, and CAMAD conferences.

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Abstract

Advancements in technology have made it vital that technicians advance their skills to stay current and competitive in the job market. Many technicians choose to transfer to baccalaureate programs in engineering and other STEM fields in order to advance their skills. As a result, engineering programs usually have a large population of transfer students. Many of transfer students are studying while employed in the field and some juggle a career and family while advancing their education. Accordingly, transfer students face various issues when transferring to different university settings. Some of these issues are related to embeddedness into the university community while other issues are more personal in nature. Various academic support programs are focused on providing transfer students with information such as how to enroll in their classes, how to enable them to be successful in their academic program, and how to persist in the program. However, adapting to the new educational environment often means that they have to establish new mentoring relationships, develop a new social peer network, and search for internships or co-op opportunities. Majority of the transfer students enrolled in a midsize institution’s engineering technology program are “non-traditional” students, e.g., veterans, adult students, working students, students with families, etc. This paper discusses specific needs of STEM transfer students, identifies challenges they face, and provides an overview of some of the programming that can be implemented at mid-sized universities that address these needs.

Jovanovic, V. M., & Sparkman-Key, N., & Cigularov, K. P., & Cigularova, D., & Anthony, B. G., & Popescu, O. (2018, June), Advancing the Engineering Field: Opportunities to Support Transfer Students Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29759

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