Asee peer logo

Experiences Piloting a Program for Implementing High Impact Practices with Limited Resources

Download Paper |

Conference

2025 ASEE North Central Section (NCS) Annual Conference

Location

Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia

Publication Date

March 28, 2025

Start Date

March 28, 2025

End Date

March 29, 2025

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

11

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/54665

Paper Authors

biography

Rick Hill University of Detroit Mercy

visit author page

Dr. Richard Hill is a Professor and Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering & Science at University of Detroit Mercy. Dr. Hill received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1998, and an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000. He joined the faculty of Detroit Mercy in 2008 after receiving a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research interests lie in the areas of vehicle control, control and diagnosis of discrete-event systems, modular and hierarchical control, and engineering education. Dr. Hill also has a strong interest in diversifying the STEM pipeline and leads the innovating Detroit’s Robotics Agile Workforce (iDRAW) program in partnership with underserved Detroit-area high schools.

visit author page

author page

Vanessa Burrows University of Detroit Mercy

biography

Linda Slowik PhD

visit author page

Linda H. Slowik, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Detroit Mercy. She earned her doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Wayne State University, and Bachelors of Arts from the University of Minnesota, Dulut

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

It is known that low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students in engineering and computer science have rates of retention and graduation that lag behind their peers. A growing body of research has identified a range of high-impact practices and exemplar programs that have been successful in improving outcomes for these at-risk populations. Some areas that these practices seek to address include: financial need, academic preparation, sense of community, confidence, and professional identity. The challenge of emulating these successful examples is that their implementation can be costly and resource intensive.

Over the past three years, a team at University of Detroit Mercy has initiated the Science & Engineering Equity Development (SEED) scholars program with 30 engineering and computer science students. This pilot program has leveraged existing on-campus resources and external industrial partners to implement a range of high-impact practices in a financially sustainable manner. Preliminary outcomes have shown promising results in that 87% of SEED program participants have been retained to engineering and computer science one year after entry to Detroit Mercy compared to a rate of 63% for our comparison group. Furthermore, SEED program participants have earned an average of 35.7 credits per year with an average cumulative GPA of 3.59 compared to 33.6 credits per year with a 3.27 GPA for the comparison students. While it is challenging to disaggregate the effect of the academic preparation of the students before their entry to the program, this paper investigates the contribution of program elements through an analysis of: (1) student attitudes and opinions, (2) student interaction with campus personnel and resources, and (3) student social networks. This evaluation shows SEED program participants have stronger connections to Detroit Mercy as evidenced by their interactions with the campus and the composition of their support networks.

Hill, R., & Burrows, V., & Slowik, L. (2025, March), Experiences Piloting a Program for Implementing High Impact Practices with Limited Resources Paper presented at 2025 ASEE North Central Section (NCS) Annual Conference, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. https://peer.asee.org/54665

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: © 2025 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