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Session 3249

Assessment of an Engineering and Technology Summer Program for Underrepresented Students Richard Ciocci Harrisburg Area Community College

Abstract

Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) offered and administered three-week summer programs for high school students from 1993 to 1997 inclusive. The primary goal of the Engineering and Technology Summer Institute (ETSI) was to provide high school students with interests in mathematics and sciences a preview of engineering studies at the college level. The students were chosen from populations that were underrepresented in the engineering profession. At HACC we sought to accept females and minorities into the program. We were relatively successful with our student enrollments. The curriculum changed slightly over the five-year span of the program, but the project component and the Friday field trips remained constants throughout. HACC intends to retool and reinstate the institute. The funding source changed during that time span, and we will need to revise the program prior to soliciting new sources.

Original Grant

Faculty from the Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Division supported the college’s Office of Institutional Development in writing the original grant. The proposal was to provide high school rising sophomores the opportunity to experience engineering at the college level. We planned advanced course work that would be different than what the students would see during the school year. Also, we wanted the students to work with practicing engineers on team projects. The team projects would be practical applications of engineering design and would the basis for written reports and oral presentations by the students. The Office of Institutional Development recognized the potential of involving some of the college’s corporate benefactors in special projects. A member of that office wrote a general proposal for funding a summer program for minority students. As there was no request for proposals, the original concept was without a specific discipline until the faculty from the Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Division were asked to consider the idea. From that combination we fashioned the Engineering and Technology Summer Institute (ETSI) for a three- week program that could serve fifteen high school students. After one potential sponsor rejected the proposal, Sprint/United Telephone of Carlisle, PA agreed to fund the project. One stipulation made by Sprint was that at least some of the students be from the company’s service area. Sprint made a donation of $15,000 to be used for the project in the summer of 1993. We identified the areas of Carlisle and Perry County, which were within the company’s service area, and Harrisburg, which was not but is the largest urban area that the college serves. We enlisted the help of high school counselors at four area high

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

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Ciocci, R. (2001, June), Assessment Of A Summer Program For Individuals Underrepresented In Engineering Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--8929