Howard-Reed, C., & Wu, J. X., & Hostetler, E. A. (2020, June), Evaluating a Multi-Campus Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2+2 Engineering Students  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34592

\bibitem{asee_peer_34592}
  Howard-Reed, C., \& Wu, J. X., \& Hostetler, E. A. (2020, June), \emph{Evaluating a Multi-Campus Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2+2 Engineering Students}
  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line .
  10.18260/1-2--34592

Cynthia Howard-Reed, Jennifer X Wu, and Erin A Hostetler.  "Evaluating a Multi-Campus Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2+2 Engineering Students".  2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2020.  https://peer.asee.org/34592 Internet.  12 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_34592}
  Cynthia Howard-Reed, Jennifer X Wu, and Erin A Hostetler.
  "Evaluating a Multi-Campus Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2+2 Engineering Students".
  \emph{2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2020.
  https://peer.asee.org/34592 Internet.  12 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_34592
author = "Cynthia Howard-Reed, Jennifer X Wu, and Erin A Hostetler"
title = "Evaluating a Multi-Campus Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2+2 Engineering Students"
booktitle = "2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access"
year = "2020"
month = "June"
address = "Virtual On line "
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/34592}
number = {10.18260/1-2--34592}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Evaluating an Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2 + 2 Engineering Students

An increasingly common pathway for students to obtain an engineering degree is through a 2 + 2 model. At a State University, this model has been implemented through students spending their first two years at a regional campus and then transferring to the main campus to finish their degrees. Although there are several programs in place to help with this transition, recent data show a significantly higher attrition rate for transfer students compared to their counterparts who started at the main campus. In 2015, the University Administration and College of Engineering established an undergraduate research program in an attempt to improve retention of transfer students. This program is an 8-week research experience for regional campus STEM students that includes working with a faculty for 6 weeks at their home campus and spending 2 weeks with a faculty on the main campus. In addition, students engage in professional development and team building activities.  To date, over 280 regional campus students have participated in the undergraduate research program during its five-year tenure. Additional goals of the program include broadening education for regional campus students, increasing the number of regional campus students entering graduate studies, and promoting mutual awareness and collaboration among faculty across the state. Anecdotal evidence has indicated a positive effect on the retention of student participants who transfer to finish degrees at the main campus. To confirm this positive correlation, a longitudinal statistical study was conducted to examine the retention rate of the students who participated in the undergraduate research program with that of other 2 + 2 students. Results from this study have the potential to confirm an undergraduate research experience as a viable strategy to improve retention of students participating in the 2 + 2 pathway to an engineering degree. 


AU  - Cynthia Howard-Reed
AU  - Jennifer X Wu
AU  - Erin A Hostetler
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Evaluating a Multi-Campus Undergraduate Research Program to Improve Retention of 2+2 Engineering Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34592
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34592
ER  -