Conference Session

Outreach and Recruitment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

G. Padmanabhan, North Dakota State University; Wei Lin, North Dakota State University; Robert Pieri, North Dakota State University; Floyd Patterson, North Dakota State University; Eakalak Khan, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

). In North Dakota,there are approximately 30,000 Native Americans distributed geographically in 5 reservationsthroughout the State according to their tribes. Although they represent about 4.9% of the totalpopulation of North Dakota, the number of Native American students at NDSU is 1.0% (Officeof Institutional Research and Analysis, 2005) of total students while on average 1% of B.S. Page 11.146.4graduates of the Engineering College are minority (all groups) (College of Engineering and 2Architecture, 2001 and 2002). Based on standard test scores, less than 5% of students at theTurtle Mountain High

Conference Session

Outreach and Recruitment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rafic Bachnak, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Korinne Caruso, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Jack Esparza, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Marc Mendez, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

students inscience, engineering, and technology by introducing them to college life, involve them inhands-on activities, and offering them network opportunities. Our goal is to make theactivities of this project an integral part of the recruiting and training efforts and expandthem to reach a larger geographical area and a higher number of underrepresentedstudents. This paper will describe the program and present some results.IntroductionStrategies employed to recruit and retain students in engineering and engineeringtechnology programs include hands-on approaches [1, 2], field trips [3, 4], summerworkshops [5], and software training programs [6]. This paper discusses a project thatuses all these methods to attract underrepresented students to

Conference Session

Outreach and Recruitment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sheree Watson, Montana State University; Heidi Sherick, Montana State University; Carolyn Plumb, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

in 7-12 grade science education. As Assistant Director, she has primary responsibility for the implementatino of DOC program components. Page 11.420.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Designing Our Community: Evaluating the Success of a Program to Recruit and Retain American Indian Students to EngineeringThe Designing our Community (DOC) program at Montana State University (MSU),which is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, has three goals: (1)Increase the motivation and pre-entry academic preparation of American Indian studentswho want to study

Conference Session

NASA Fellowship Program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melissa Green, United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corp; Maria Jackson Hittle, UNCF SP; Gholam Ali Shaykhian, NASA; Robert Singleterry, NASA; Victor Obot, Texas Southern University; Premkumar Saganti, Prairie View A&M University; Marc Mendez, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Jianping Yue, Essex County College; Jack Esparza, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Rafic Bachnak, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Kenneth Fernandez; Pamela Denkins

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

, he shares his experiences of how to engage and supervise communitycollege students in research as well as lessons learned from the process.1. IntroductionMachining by metal cutting is one of the most popular manufacturing techniques. The U.S.spends over $100 billion annually on machining operations. High material removal rate (MMR)and surface quality are always the primary objectives of machining. Since the industrialrevolution in the 19th century, continuous improvements have been made in machine tools andcutting tools. New materials and designs have significantly improved the hardness and life ofcutting tools. High-speed machining centers can now operate at a spindle speed that is as high ashalf a million revolutions per minute (RPM). In

Conference Session

Retention Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Annita Alting, City College of the City University of New York; Ardie Walser, City College of the City University of New York

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

the School of Engineering.1. Introduction Like most engineering schools across the country, the Grove School of Engineering (SOE) atthe City College of New York (CCNY) is engaged in the implementation of a process ofcontinuous improvement in its engineering curriculum. As an urban commuting college, one ofthe School’s missions is to provide education to a highly diverse student body, includingtraditionally underrepresented minorities, working adults, and immigrants in the metropolitanNew York area. The breakdown of undergraduate ethnic groups from fall 1992-2001 at CCNYwas: Black 29.6%, Hispanic 26.0% and Asian 13.5% and for fall 2001 women represented20.1% of the college's engineering majors.In the period under consideration in this paper

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tricia Berry, University of Texas-Austin; Andrea Ogilvie, University of Texas-Austin; Randy Emelo, Triple Creek Associates, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

partner with the College of Engineering topilot the Web-based mentoring program. Triple Creek’s mission is to support clients with thetechnology and expertise to build relationships, leverage knowledge, and create inclusiveenvironments for the purpose of improved individual and organizational success. They providedthe College of Engineering with a customized version of Open Mentoring® and direct end usersupport.IntroductionOpen Mentoring® was launched at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in August2004 to provide students with the opportunity to initiate and manage mentoring relationshipsbased on individual need. Mentoring in the College of Engineering was developed to address thefollowing challenges: (1) need to increase the number of

Conference Session

Research in Minority Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Whitney Smith, UMES/Rutgers University; Uditha Poddalgoda, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Omar A. Omar, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Amy Jarrett, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Aaron Redden, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Daniel Seaton, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; Robert Johnson, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

of thereported endeavors. Involvement in ACTION projects have not only reinforced conceptsintroduced in classroom setting but have inspired students to be engaged in the process oflearning and discovery well beyond expectations of the course syllabi, format, and structure.1. IntroductionUndergraduate research projects provide students with opportunities to think like a scientist orengineer, [1] increases student participation in interdisciplinary, authentic problem solving [2] andhelp universities move from teaching oriented to learning centered. [3]The “Academic Excellence” [4] study reveals the value that all institutions place onundergraduate research. Twenty – five (25) percent of all published papers include studentauthors

Conference Session

Outreach and Recruitment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Kuyath, University of North Carolina-Charlotte; Deborah Sharer, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

of bachelor degrees awarded inengineering in the United States6. Furthermore, between the years 2002 and 2012, the Bureau ofLabor Statistics expects a 3% to 9% growth in engineering occupations7. These statistics suggestthat the U.S. will be facing a shortage of engineers in the near future. If American companiescannot recruit domestic engineers, they will go abroad to recruit engineers or they will movetheir engineering operations overseas1.The National Science Board’s, Science and Engineering Indicators—2002 states: “The UnitedStates has long relied heavily on scientists and engineers who were born abroad, and increasinglyso in the closing years of the 20th century” 1. Clearly, the U.S. has been unable to produce asufficient number of

Conference Session

Research in Minority Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tommy Stevenson, Mississippi State University; Donna Reese, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

, biologicalengineering, and industrial engineering – have a significant percentage of women in the program.Overall, our college of engineering has 17.57% women at the undergraduate level, compared to17.68% nationally1.The participation of minority students also varies between programs in the college. However,this variance is much smaller than that for women with the participation rates varying from 5.1%(civil) to 22.6% (industrial). Overall for the college, the percentage of African-Americanstudents at the undergraduate level was 11.25%. This compares with a national average of Page 11.996.26.04%1. However, the percentage of African-American students for

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hamid Shahnasser, San Francisco State University; Wenshen Pong

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

found that only 61% of the students who took ourfirst semester engineering course (ENGR 101) continued as an engineering major in thesubsequent year. We believe that many of those who left engineering after the first year wouldhave continued in engineering if they had a more encouraging, helpful, personal, and stimulatingfirst year experience. Many other universities have recognized the importance of the first yearexperience as well and have revamped their first year introductory engineering course(s) [1-5].The goals of this introductory course are to provide students with basic skills for success, toenhance their interest in engineering and to cultivate their sense of belonging. Because of therecent decline in engineering enrollments [6], this

Conference Session

MIND Education Trends

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fred Hudson, University of Texas-San Antonio; Dawnlee Roberson, University of Texas-San Antonio

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

continue studies in math & scienceThe course schedule, as shown in Table 1, was followed successfully. The students met fourtimes per week for five weeks. The classes were two 90-minute sessions each day. Thetheoretical lectures discussed the process of acquiring data through transducer-based instrumentsand the fundamental aspects of time series data. Lectures on biomechanics focused onmovement of the arm and how motion capture can pinpoint issues with body movement. BothDr. Roberson and Dr Hudson have graduate level training in biological systems and engineering.Along with the theoretical lectures presented by Dr. Hudson and Dr. Roberson, UTSA studentsdemonstrated lab equipment, software and projects.The lectures included a presentation by

Conference Session

Retention Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maria M. Larrondo Petrie

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

internet sites containing further details.An analysis is done of possible areas of need not covered adequately by existing resources.Engineering Professional Societies and Engineering Education Related SitesProfessional societies for engineers provide scholarships, fellowships, awards, conferences,competitions, publications, and resources for students, parents, educators and professionalengineers. Table 1 shows a listing of engineering professional societies. The computer scienceand engineering technologies societies are included in this table because the computer scienceand engineering technology programs are often housed in the college of engineering. The tablealso includes architecture, because students may want to explore the differences

Conference Session

Retention Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Allene Manning, Purdue University; Virginia Booth-Gleghorn, Purdue University-MEP; Monica Cox, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

minoritystudents to the rigors of college life.4 Over several years, the Challenge Program has shownstrong upward trends of academic achievement for students who participate in the programcompared to those who do not participate. Page 11.463.2 The Purdue University Minority Engineering Program looked at the Challenge Programas a benchmark to see what elements could be useful for the development of a summer bridgeprogram at Purdue University. There were two areas of major concern that had to be addresseddifferently for the challenges faced at Purdue: 1) the rich cultural social climate in Atlanta,Georgia did not have the same challenges for potential

Conference Session

Attracting Young MINDs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University; Vernal Alford, North Carolina A&T State University; Elaine Vinson, North Carolina A&T State University; Venetia Fisher, North Carolina A&T State University; Devdas Pai, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

: engineeringprofessors who serve as directors that oversee the programs agenda; otherengineering faculty who teach some engineering courses; Guilford Countyteachers, who served as instructors for the mathematics and science; one (1) highschool counselor who facilitates the career explorations and invites otherprofessionals as guest speakers; technicians who conduct the laboratory sessions;six (6) engineering undergraduate students who served as student teachers andmentors; and one (1) engineering undergraduate who serves as the photographerand mentor. The funds for the director come from the College of Engineeringoutreach and specific sessions such as the CAMSS nanotechnology programis funded by the specific research center. Once the Guilford

Conference Session

Research in Minority Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jorge Alvarado, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

process. Figure 1 shows how the recruiting process wasrecently coordinated between a leading minority institution and Texas A&M Universityin 2005. The recruiting of an undergraduate student interested in undergraduate researchactivities was coordinated at the lowest level: faculty-to-faculty. This provided a uniqueopportunity to select a research topic of interest for both faculty members and the studentwell in advance.As part of the coordination process, the faculty member at the leading minority institutionagreed to let potential applicants know about the USRG program and discussed possibleresearch topics before the students applied. From that point on, it was the soleresponsibility of the applicant to apply, Figure 1, and to specify a

Conference Session

Research in Minority Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Turns, University of Washington; Angela Linse, Temple University; Tammy VanDeGrift, University of Portland; Matt Eliot, University of Washington; Jana Jones, Microsoft Corp.; Steve Lappenbusch, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

diversity statement exercise is only one ofthe topics explored by program participants in the eight-week program. Two research questionsabout the diversity statement exercise guided the analyses and results reported here: 1) does thediversity statement exercise show promise as a means of enabling participants to engage withdiversity issues in engineering education?, and 2) how prepared are engineering graduatestudents to grapple with issues of diversity and teaching? The remainder of this paper is organized into background, methods, results, discussion andconclusion sections. We provide background information about diversity in engineeringeducation. Next, we provide a brief overview of our work including descriptions of the portfolioprogram and the

Conference Session

Retention Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andre Butler, Mercer University; Priscilla Hicks, Mercer University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

11.1156.2success in this area that exceeds the national averages by roughly 50% for both African-Americans and women.If attracting qualified students to engineering disciplines is the first step, then retainingthem is clearly the second. Retention symbolizes student progress toward graduation andmay be defined in several ways5-6. At MUSE, 64% of minority freshmen are retained totheir sophomore year and just over 50% are retained to their junior year. The respectivepercentages for women are 64% and 57%. These values are slightly higher than nationalaverages.The final component of success as it relates to the matriculation of minorities and womenin engineering is graduation. There are at least two ways to examine graduation data: (1)on a basis that focuses

Conference Session

Retention Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phyllis Tedford, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; John Fernandez, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

coming years.1, 2, 3, 4 As can be seen in figure 1, all thirteen of the 2004 2014 Projected 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Network systems and data

Conference Session

Outreach and Recruitment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marsha Lee, Texas A&M University; Jan Rinehart, Texas A&M University; Scott Starks, University of Texas-El Paso; Karen Villatoro, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

Engineering conference targeted 9th-12th grade high schoolstudents and secondary math and science teachers. The conference had the following goals:Goal 1: Develop an additional layer of experience and knowledge of engineering to continue the interest of high school students who have participated in engineering awareness programs. This will be was accomplished by inviting the Texas High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS), NASA SHARP, and the El Paso PREP program participants.Goal 2: Develop experience and knowledge of careers in engineering among low-income students, ethnic minority students, and/or girls-especially through hands-on activities. This was accomplished by promoting the conference through the 25 Texas GEAR

Conference Session

Research in Minority Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Gonzalez-Barreto, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Antonio Gonzalez-Quevedo, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

the four faculties: Engineering, Arts and Sciences (divided into sciencedepartments and humanities departments. Our main interest was the engineeringcandidates. Of all the applicants to engineering (as their first, second or third choice)35.8% were admitted and registered, 58.7% were not admitted, and 5.5% were admittedbut declined registration at our engineering programs. This information is portrayed inFigure 1 showing that in general terms around 4 of 10 applicants is admitted and registersin our engineering programs.In a previous study performed by the authors, a profile of the entering engineering classesof the College of Engineering of UPRM during the period of 1990-2003 was developed.The profile included variables such as: gender

Conference Session

MIND Education Trends

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Asa, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

science and engineering doctoral degrees. The dominance of malesin engineering doctoral programs is apparent from Figure 1. A disproportionately large numberof doctoral degrees have been awarded to males. In 1994, about 6 males received a doctoraldegree for every doctoral degree received by a female. Today the proportion is still a high 4:1 infavor of males. Even though there are efforts to close the gap and more females are earningdoctoral degrees in engineering than before, the academic gap is extremely wide. Variousreasons have been given for this gap, including gender differences. However these reasons alonecan not account for such differences. One of the factors that has come to light is the attitude ofpredominantly male professors towards

Conference Session

MIND Education Trends

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Dana Newell, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

opportunity because Arizona State University was one of 13school that received a five-year block grant in 2003 from NACME to increase the number ofunderrepresented minority students who receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering orComputer Science.1 The students were selected for the program based on their application. Thestudent needed to have at least a 3.0 GPA, be enrolled in engineering or computer science (alsohoused in the Futon School of Engineering), have financial need as determined by a FAFSA, bea US or permanent resident, be an underrepresented minority student (African American, NativeAmerican, or Hispanic/Latino), and submit a statement of purpose and two letters ofrecommendation, at least one from an academic instructor. The students