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Session 2332

CAMP IE—A Discipline-Specific Model for the Recruitment of Minorities into Engineering

Veronica Hinton-Hudson and Brenda G. Hart University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

Abstract

In spite of progress made over the last 20 years, recruitment and retention of African American students remain a problem at most engineering schools. Many universities have developed programs that seek to introduce pre-college students to the engineering profession early in their high school careers. The University of Louisville is no exception. In collaboration with the local public high school system, the University of Louisville’s Department of Industrial Engineering developed “CAMP IE”. This unique program is a discipline-specific, five week, Saturday morning “camp” for 9th and 10th grade students who have been historically under- represented in engineering. Given the demographics of Louisville, this program chose to target African American youth. This paper describes how “CAMP IE” was developed, its goals and key elements, and how its principles can be modified to meet the recruitment needs of other engineering colleges.

I. Introduction

Over the years, minority youth have been sorely underrepresented in institutions of higher education in general and in industrial engineering programs in particular. Although some minority high school students have vague ideas of what engineers do, few of them have had the opportunity to interact with engineers and better understand the work they perform.

Within the Jefferson County Public School system, there are many underrepresented minority students who have the aptitude to be successful in engineering. However, these young people often lose interest and motivation due to other compelling vices, negative peer pressure or a lack of influential positive role models nurturing and encouraging them. To counteract the foregoing problem and further provide encouragement to those who are capable and interested in engineering, the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Louisville (UofL) in collaboration with the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Comprehensive Partnership for Minority Student Achievement (CPMSA) Program Office developed and piloted a model camp—the “CAMP IE” Program.

This paper will describe the elements and goals of the program and present some of the initial outcomes from the pilot group of 46 students. In addition, the authors present some resulting general principles that make the camp effective, particularly in an urban environment. Finally, the authors suggest some recommendations for further research with respect to the longitudinal effects of these students.

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Hinton-Hudson, V. D., & Hart, B. (2000, June), Camp Ie A Discipline Specific Model For The Recruitment Of Minorities Into Engineering Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8195