Virtual
August 9, 2021
August 9, 2021
August 21, 2021
Diversity
4
10.18260/1-2--38388
https://peer.asee.org/38388
178
Lesley Berhan is currently the Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement for the College of Engineering and an Associate Professor in the department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at The University of Toledo. Her research interests are in the areas of composites and fibrous materials and engineering education. She received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, her M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She joined the faculty at the University of Toledo in 2004. As the Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement she leads the development and execution of initiatives and programs to facilitate the recruitment, retention, and success of women, students from underrepresented groups and first generation students. These duties are well aligned with her current research interests and external funding in engineering education.
Bryan Bosch holds a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a M.A. in Educational Psychology (’14), both from the University of Cincinnati. Along with his current role as the Manager of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement for the College of Engineering at the University of Toledo, he is a part-time instructor in the College and has held positions in Student Advising, Admissions and Recruitment, Student Organizational Advising, and Digital Market Research throughout his 6 years at the University of Toledo and 9 years across multiple institutions in the state of Ohio.
The central objective of the Greater Equity, Access, and Readiness for Engineering and Technology (GEARSET) Program is to enhance the student learning, academic pathways, academic performance, professional preparation, retention, and graduation rates of students aspiring to engineering careers. By recruiting a diverse pool of students with demonstrated academic talent, and by facilitating a pathway to engineering and technology majors for students who must first complete coursework required to transfer from University College (UC), we also seek to increase the equity and diversity of the College of Engineering (COE). In this paper we report on the curricular and co-curricular programming of GEARSET, as well as the outcomes (i.e. retention rates and transfer rates into the College of Engineering) of the first cohort who were part of the GEARSET pilot phase. We present lessons learned from the pilot, and plans for future cohorts for subsequent cohorts, since GEARSET was recently funded through an NSF S-STEM grant.
Berhan, L. M., & Bosch, B. T. (2021, August), Greater Equity, Access, and Readiness for Engineering and Technology (GEARSET) Paper presented at 2021 First-Year Engineering Experience, Virtual . 10.18260/1-2--38388
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