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Session 1547

Advising, the Key to Retention

Thomas B. Slack, The University of Memphis

Abstract--In the current environment, degrees in the fields of Engineering Technology are an increasing choice of students. Here are time proven ways to retain those students once they have chosen such a path. Index Terms--Engineering Technology, Retention, Advising

I. Introduction

At the present time, many factors in the world contribute to the need for more technical knowledge in the workplace. As networking technology, specifically web access grows to the 300 million users mark1, pressure to keep up pushes business to require a higher level of technical competence in its staff. Technical complexity is increasing in most work environments.

The world economy also increases the competition for high quality technical help. No longer are most graduates of advanced degrees choosing to stay in the United States for work. The growing job markets in south Asia and Europe make them a more and more attractive alternative for new MS and PhD graduates, who are, themselves, still primarily from foreign countries2.

Amid this demand, failing secondary education in the United States has reduced the preparation level of many students3, which understandably reduces their ability to complete a technical degree. Many colleges have reported rising attrition rates in engineering at the Bachelors level4. There are also reports of rising stress among college freshman5.

Increasingly, new students, and also transfer students unable to do the higher mathematics necessary for engineering degrees, are choosing to pursue engineering technology. Unfortunately, even without the stronger emphasis on the calculus required by the engineering degree, the rigorous nature of the technical material itself is often daunting to such students.

Here are time proven ways to retain students once they have chosen such a path. There are no panaceas here, only common sense. Even if you already know and do these things, they are so important that they deserve an occasional review.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Slack, T. (2001, June), Advising, The Key To Retention Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--8893