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GLUE: Sticking with Engineering through Undergraduate Research

Ms. Tricia S. Berry, Dr. Kerry A. Kinney The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract The Women in Engineering Program (WEP) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is in the third year of developing, managing and expanding a hands-on, seminar-based undergraduate research program, Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering (GLUE). GLUE undergraduate student participants are matched by major and interest area with a graduate student for the spring semester. The undergraduate participant works with the graduate student on a research project three to five hours per week and attends a weekly seminar focused on research opportunities, graduate school issues and career development topics. Undergraduate students gain engineering and research experience while earning engineering course credit. Graduate students participate in mentor training and skills development workshops while gaining teaching and supervisory experience and enhancing their communication skills.

The GLUE program has been very successful at UT Austin and has expanded rapidly from 13 undergraduate student applicants and $4,500 in funding in 2003 to 68 applicants and $53,000 in funding in 2005. Although the program is open to both male and female students, the program has successfully attracted a high percentage of female participants. Feedback from pre and post- program surveys indicates that the program has increased the proportion of undergraduate participants interested in pursing a graduate education. As for the graduate students who serve as mentors in the program, over 60% of the participants report an improvement in their teaching and communication skills as a result of the program. The GLUE program has become an integral retention and career development initiative for WEP and the College of Engineering at UT Austin and several improvements are planned for the Spring 2005 program.

Introduction Although The University of Texas at Austin has an excellent graduate program in engineering, many of our undergraduate students know very little about the research going on at our university. Misconceptions about graduate school and research careers are common among the undergraduate population. This lack of knowledge proves to be a real barrier that prevents many undergraduate students, and female and minority students, in particular, from considering graduate school. The Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering (GLUE) program provides an innovative opportunity to expose undergraduate engineering students to research by linking them with graduate engineering students working on research projects in the College of Engineering. The program consists of a semester-long research experience in the laboratory that is coupled with a structured interdisciplinary seminar course for the undergraduate participants. The program is primarily intended for undergraduates with little to no previous research experience. Specific objectives of the GLUE program are as follows:

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Kinney, K., & Berry, T. (2005, June), Glue: Sticking With Engineering Through Undergraduate Research Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15226