Conference Session

Retention Strategies in Action Part II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heather Evans, University of Washington; Priti Mody-Pan, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

, University of Washington Priti N. Mody-Pan is the Director of Evaluation at the Center for Workforce Development. Her responsibilities include overseeing funded projects related to the Global Alliance, writing and editing proposals, fundraising, conducting research projects on institutional best practices in diversity, writing reports, managing an international exchange program, conducting program evaluations, marketing, and working with international and national organizations. Ms. Mody-Pan received her Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS) degrees from the University of Washington and her BA in Political Science and East Asian Studies

Conference Session

Retention Strategies in Action Part II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine Scott, Seattle Pacific University; Hannah Azevedo, Seattle Pacific University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

degree in electrical engineering at Seattle PacificUniversity. This paper focuses on our specific objective to maintain retention rates significantlyabove national averages. To achieve this, we have recognized the students’ academic, social, aswell as financial needs, and the importance of building a sense of community among thestudents, not only with the university, but with the profession as well. Thus, we have developed anumber of programs and activities designed to address these issues. These programs are focusedon building connections with the faculty (through faculty mentors), their peers (through socialfunctions and the ECASE study hall), and the profession (through industrial mentors). Thus far,in the second year of the program, all of

Conference Session

Retention Strategies in Action Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frankie Santos Laanan, Iowa State University; Dimitra Jackson, Iowa State University; Mary Darrow, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

among students who leave Engineering,5 otherstudies draw attention to additional factors that discourage students from continuing inEngineering majors. The factors include the level of self-confidence of Engineering students andinteraction with faculty, staff and peers.5Theoretical frameworkAstin’s theory of student involvement1 is most appropriate for this study. The theory of studentinvolvement highlights the development of students and how factors within the collegeenvironment affect the persistence and perception of students. Astin posited that “studentinvolvement refers to the amount of physical and psychological energy that the student devotesto the academic experience” (p. 297). Astin1 further explains that involvement is defined bywhat

Conference Session

Retention Strategies in Action Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amelito Enriquez, Canada College

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

interactivelearning6, summer bridge programs7,8, and academic support services such as tutoring, AcademicExcellence Workshops (AEWs), and peer mentoring9.In 2008, Cañada College, a Hispanic-Serving community college in Redwood City, CA, wasawarded a Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP) grant by the USDepartment of Education. The project, entitled Student On-ramp Leading to Engineering andSciences (SOLES), aims to maximize the likelihood of success among underrepresented andeducationally disadvantaged students interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields byincorporating strategies that address challenges and barriers to recruitment, retention and successof these students. Among the strategies developed for this project are two summer

Conference Session

Rethinking Traditional Pedagogical Strategies

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frankie Santos Laanan, Iowa State University; Dimitra Jackson, Iowa State University; Soko Starobin, Iowa State University; Mary Darrow, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

colleges anduniversities among peers. NW-ETEP up-holds the value of relationships between high schoolsand community colleges, community colleges and universities and between students, facultymembers and support services in community colleges. “I guess it kind strikes me that so much of this is about relationships at all levels, whether department chair or school of engineering chair, it’s just even that function of getting to know each other in the different cc programs and their faculty.” “It’s been a big supporter of our human powered paper vehicle competition which is actually a result of a different NSF grant but NW-ETEP has supported and kind of built upon what started a few years ago. Now the human powered

Conference Session

Retention Strategies in Action Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Armando Rodriguez, Arizona State University; Anita Grierson, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

understandingthat the university wanted to help the CCs with their recruitment and retention of pre-engineeringand computer science students and to assist their students with transfer only after they could gono further in their engineering studies at the CC.Representatives from ASU and MCCCD worked together for several months writing a grant forthe National Science Foundation. The primary objective of the project was to work together on aprogram to encourage more potential and actual CC students to consider engineering. The firstauthor had discovered through her research that of the engineering transfer students in Fulton,many of them had gone to a CC with no particular major in mind and had decided on engineeringor computer science after they had