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Engineers Without Borders at a Community College: Lessons Learned

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Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

Community Engagement Division Technical Session 5

Tagged Division

Community Engagement Division

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--37082

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/37082

Download Count

311

Paper Authors

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Callie Charleton

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Miral Desai California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Carissa Elaine Noriega

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Celeste Yi ming Soon Ramseyer

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Elise Gooding

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Michael S. Reyna California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Lizabeth L. Thompson California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Dr. Lizabeth Thompson is a professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. She has been at Cal Poly for nearly 30 years and has held various positions on campus including Co-Director of LAES, Director of Women’s Engineering Programs, and CENG Associate Dean. Her research is in Engineering Education, particularly equitable classroom practices, integrated learning, and institutional change. She spent last academic year at Cal State LA where she taught and collaborated on research related to equity and social justice. With her colleagues at Cal State LA she recently received an NSF grant called Eco-STEM which aims to transform STEM education using an asset-based ecosystem model. Specifically, the Eco-STEM project focuses on shifting the metaphor in STEM education from a factory model to an ecosystem model. This Ecosystem model aspires towards an organic and healthy environment that nurtures students, faculty, and staff to become individuals fulfilled professionally and personally. She is also a co-advisor to Engineers without Borders and Critical Global Engagement at Cal Poly.

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Jane L. Lehr California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Jane Lehr is a Professor in Ethnic Studies and Women's & Gender Studies and Director of Student Research at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is affiliated faculty in Computer Science and Software Engineering and Science, Technology and Society. She is also the 2019-20 Inclusive STEM Initiatives Fellow in the Colleges of Engineering, Science and Mathematics, and Liberal Arts and Faculty Director of the California State University (CSU) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) in STEM Program at Cal Poly. She previously served as elected co-chair of the Science and Technology Taskforce of the National Women's Studies Association, and as a Postdoctoral Research Officer at the Centre for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) at King's College, University of London. Her graduate training is in Science and Technology Studies and Women's Studies at Virginia Tech.

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Jeff Jones Cuesta College

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Abstract

This paper will describe the establishment of the first Engineers Without Borders (EWB) at a community college. We believe this exciting opportunity could be available to other community colleges and we are hopeful that this paper will serve as a guide. The initiation of this club began with conversations between XXX community college and YYY university which is located five miles away. YYY university has a very active and experienced EWB chapter which is deeply engaged in examining global development with a focus on justice and decolonization. Recently, the two institutions have embarked on a NSF Funded S-STEM grant to support connections between YYY and two local community colleges. With this background the engineering faculty at XXX engaged several engineering students to begin the process of establishing a chapter. Through tenacity and diligence, the chapter began in the Fall of 2019. There are currently many interrelated activities at the community college with the ultimate goal of a sustainable chapter with international travel teams. This paper will discuss the process of connecting with YYY, connecting with local professional engineers, the role of the advisor, and the initiation of local outreach activities. We will also review the ways in which the institutions are actively exploring justice in global development. Although progress was stymied because of the pandemic, we still maintain a goal of establishing a robust EWB Chapter on the XXX campus and engaging with students.

Charleton, C., & Desai, M., & Noriega, C. E., & Soon Ramseyer, C. Y. M., & Gooding, E., & Reyna, M. S., & Thompson, L. L., & Lehr, J. L., & Jones, J. (2021, July), Engineers Without Borders at a Community College: Lessons Learned Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37082

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2021 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015