Austin, Texas
June 14, 2009
June 14, 2009
June 17, 2009
2153-5965
Two Year College Division
9
14.587.1 - 14.587.9
10.18260/1-2--5286
https://peer.asee.org/5286
431
“Vinnie” Gupta is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and a member of the graduate faculty of Materials Science & Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). He is a recipient of the 2000 Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching. At RIT, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Applied Mechanics, Computational Techniques, and Materials Science.
Abi Aghayere is Professor and Acting Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering Technology, Environmental Management and Safety at the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY), and the recipient of the 2005 Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is a winner of the 2003 ASEE Best Paper Award and the co-author of three structural engineering textbooks.
Vincent Amuso is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). He has chaired several international conferences in the area of Waveform Diversity & Design. At RIT, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in signal processing and radar and communication systems.
Mike Eastman is a Professor and Department Chair of Electrical, Computer, and Telecommunications Engineering Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He teaches courses technical programming and embedded systems design. His research interests include algorithm development and implementation in Field Programmable Gate Arrays.
Daniel P. Johnson is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology/Packaging Science Department at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the past Program Chair for Manufacturing Engineering Technology and teaches courses in manufacturing operations, automation, robotics, computer aided manufacturing and operations strategy. Prior to joining the MMET/PS Faculty he was Director of RIT’s Manufacturing Management and Leadership Program and Engineering Manager for the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies. His industrial experience includes work as an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer for Allied Signal. He has a Master of Engineering Degree in Manufacturing and a BS in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from RIT as well as an AAS in Engineering Science from Hudson Valley Community College.
ET2 Program for Transfer Students from Two-Year Colleges
Abstract
This paper describes the Engineering and Technology Transfer Scholars’ (ET2) program recently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that focuses on students who transfer at the 3rd year level from 2-year schools to our university. With scholarship support from NSF, we aim to recruit, retain and graduate 25 additional transfer scholars per year in our engineering and engineering technology (EET) BS degree programs. The NSF scholarship is in addition to grants and aid awarded by our university. In support of this project, the university will contribute $50,000 to ensure that ET2 scholars have continuing financial support after the grant expires and help them graduate on time. This support indicates the university’s enthusiasm, a firm commitment of service to our EET students, and an endorsement of the goals and objectives of the ET2 program.
The paper describes how the ET2 program: (i) addresses a national concern by helping to expand and diversify the engineering/technology workforce of the future, (ii) will develop linkages and articulations with 2-year schools and their S-STEM programs, (iii) identifies a clear potential to increase the participation and graduation of female and minority students from engineering and technology degree programs, (iv) serves as a model for other selective universities to provide transfer students the access to the baccalaureate, (v) gives scholars hands-on experience in the latest tools and technologies, and (vi) provides increased career opportunities and job placement rates through mandatory co-op experiences.
Designing the ET2 Program
U.S. Department of Education defines 2-year institutions as postsecondary institutions that offer programs of at least 2 but less than 4 years duration. Two-year institutions include community colleges, vocational and occupational schools, and serve almost half of all the undergraduate students (~17.5 million in 2005) in the USA by offering noncredit programs, providing workforce development and skills training as well as preparing students for transfer to 4-year colleges1. Each year, approximately 45% of all full-time freshmen enroll in 2-year schools. Of these, approximately half declare attaining a bachelor’s degree as their goal, yet only an estimated quarter manage to transfer to 4-year colleges. The Department of Education research indicates that once these students transfer, they graduate at the same rate as do students who start their baccalaureate education at a 4-year college (see tables 4 and 5 for data on our university). Furthermore, of the 564,964 associate’s degrees awarded by 2-year schools in 2005-6, 63% were to women, 11% each to African Americans and Latin Americans, 5% to Asian Americans, and 1% to Native Americans. The proportion of students with associate’s degree interested in engineering or engineering technology varies between 7 to 9%. Thus, transfers from 2-year schools form an extremely attractive pool to both expand and diversify the engineering and technology workforce of the future.
Gupta, S., & Aghayere, A., & Amuso, V., & Eastman, M., & Johnson, D. (2009, June), Et^2 Program For Transfer Students From Two Year Colleges Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5286
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