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Board 77 : Work in Progress: Investigating the Role of Social Responsibility on Veteran Student Retention

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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

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topics

Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

8

DOI

10.18260/1-2--30105

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/30105

Download Count

356

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Paper Authors

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Stacey E. Tucker-Kulesza Kansas State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3283-6235

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Dr. Stacey Tucker-Kulesza is an assistant professor in the civil engineering department at Kansas State University. Dr. Tucker-Kulesza is a graduate of the American Society of Civil Engineers Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEED). She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in geotechnical engineering.

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Grace J. Liang Kansas State University

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Grace J. Liang is a faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership at Kansas State University (USA). Her research interests focus on school leadership, professional development and learning in STEM, equity for women and racial minorities, and leadership for community engagement. She holds a PhD from the University of Georgia in Educational Administration and Policy.

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Eric J. Fitzsimmons Kansas State University

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Dr. Eric Fitzsimmons is an assistant professor in the civil engineering department at Kansas State University and licensed professional engineering in the State of Kansas. Dr. Fitzsimmons is a graduate of the American Society of Civil Engineers Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEED) program. HE teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in transportation engineering.

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Jeff Zacharakis Kansas State University

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Jeff Zacharakis is a professor of adult learning and leadership in the Department of Educational Leadership. His areas of research include leader and organizational development.

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Abstract

The United States veteran student cohort presents the potential to increase representation of underrepresented groups in engineering program across the country. Unfortunately, discontinued and dismissal rates among veteran students are significantly higher than traditional engineering student attrition. Additionally, there is a lack of data-driven research to understand and quantify retention of veteran students in engineering. The objective of this research is to increase veteran student retention by investigating associations between retention, social responsibility in the military and in engineering, and demographics.

Social responsibility is generally understood as acting to benefit society. When practicing engineering, it is the responsibility of engineers to evaluate the implications of their calculations and designs for society’s safety, welfare, and the environment. All military branches promote social responsibility through core values, putting the welfare of others before themselves and working for the greater good of society. There is a common theme between the core ideals of the military community and why many students select engineering to pursue after a successful military career. This work in progress paper will discuss the preliminary survey to measure social responsibility attitudes in veteran and first year students at Kansas State University. The developed survey was reviewed by an expert advisory panel of veterans prior to pilot testing with an identified group of veteran and first-year students. The research team anticipates launching the full survey next fall. The goal of this research is to determine if concepts of social responsibility positively influence veteran student retention. The results of this research will be used to design an intervention, likely in the first-year, which will increase veteran retention in engineering programs. This research was funded by the NSF PFE: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation program.

Tucker-Kulesza, S. E., & Liang, G. J., & Fitzsimmons, E. J., & Zacharakis, J. (2018, June), Board 77 : Work in Progress: Investigating the Role of Social Responsibility on Veteran Student Retention Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30105

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