Improving First-Year Engineering Student Success with Targeted Financial Assistance, Supplemental Instruction, and Cohort Team Building

Krystal Corbett Cruse; Carl Boyet; James D. Palmer

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 7: Retention & Success
Tagged Division: First-Year Programs Division (FYP)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47591

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Paper Authors

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Krystal Corbett Cruse Louisiana Tech University

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Dr. Krystal Corbett is the First-Year Engineering Programs Coordinator and Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Louisiana Tech University. She is also the Co-Director of the Office for Women in Science and Engineering at Louisiana Tech.

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biography

Carl Boyet Louisiana Tech University

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Carl Boyet is an Instructor of Mathematics who has worked for Louisiana Tech University for nine years.

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James D. Palmer Louisiana Tech University

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Virgil Orr Professor of Chemical Engineering
Director of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering

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Abstract

This complete research paper assesses the first-year implementation of an NSF-funded S-STEM effort, the SUCCESS Scholars Program (SSP), established in the Fall of 2022 at Louisiana Tech University.

Louisiana Tech University is a Carnegie High Research Activity University that has approximately 20% of its 7500 undergraduates as engineering majors, is geographically distanced from large metropolitan areas but draws its student population both statewide and regionally and operates on the quarter calendar. Louisiana Tech University merged the math, chemistry, and physics programs with the engineering, technology, and computer science programs into a single college in 1995 and created an integrated freshman engineering curriculum in 1998. Louisiana Tech University has a long history of educational innovations in engineering education, with a hands-on project-based approach implemented in 2004 and four other NSF-funded programs to increase student success in engineering since 2007.

The SSP builds on these prior efforts by providing financial, academic, personal, and professional support to engineering students starting in their first year of college through four years of academic study. The first cohort of twenty-four students was selected through an application process after learning about the program at orientation. The SSP team focused heavily in the first year on academic support and community building while also providing each student a financial scholarship of up to $10,000 depending on unmet financial need. Throughout the first year, students in the SSP attended a three-day-a-week first-year engineering course instead of the typical two-day-a-week course. This provided additional access to the lab equipment, contact hours with their instructor, practice problems, and helped foster community among the cohort.

Additional academic support was provided through supplemental instruction sessions strategically designed to provide support in both their engineering and mathematics courses. These sessions were led by upper-level peer mentors. Students were connected with faculty mentors in their discipline through lunches that the SSP faculty team provided each week. These lunches helped reduce food insecurity while also providing an inviting atmosphere for interaction between peers and faculty. Lunches also offered an opportunity to have career discussions and bring in professional development speakers like student organization leaders and graduate students.

At the start of the first quarter of their sophomore year, nineteen students were either still on track or just one quarter behind in their engineering curriculum. This record will be compared with the approximately 420 students who either were eligible or did not take part in this program. Historical data will be reviewed to determine how predictive these initial markers are toward completion of the degree.

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Cruse, K. C., & Boyet, C., & Palmer, J. D. (2024, June), Improving First-Year Engineering Student Success with Targeted Financial Assistance, Supplemental Instruction, and Cohort Team Building Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47591

TY - CPAPER
AB - This complete research paper assesses the first-year implementation of an NSF-funded S-STEM effort, the SUCCESS Scholars Program (SSP), established in the Fall of 2022 at Louisiana Tech University.

Louisiana Tech University is a Carnegie High Research Activity University that has approximately 20% of its 7500 undergraduates as engineering majors, is geographically distanced from large metropolitan areas but draws its student population both statewide and regionally and operates on the quarter calendar. Louisiana Tech University merged the math, chemistry, and physics programs with the engineering, technology, and computer science programs into a single college in 1995 and created an integrated freshman engineering curriculum in 1998. Louisiana Tech University has a long history of educational innovations in engineering education, with a hands-on project-based approach implemented in 2004 and four other NSF-funded programs to increase student success in engineering since 2007.

The SSP builds on these prior efforts by providing financial, academic, personal, and professional support to engineering students starting in their first year of college through four years of academic study. The first cohort of twenty-four students was selected through an application process after learning about the program at orientation. The SSP team focused heavily in the first year on academic support and community building while also providing each student a financial scholarship of up to $10,000 depending on unmet financial need. Throughout the first year, students in the SSP attended a three-day-a-week first-year engineering course instead of the typical two-day-a-week course. This provided additional access to the lab equipment, contact hours with their instructor, practice problems, and helped foster community among the cohort.

Additional academic support was provided through supplemental instruction sessions strategically designed to provide support in both their engineering and mathematics courses. These sessions were led by upper-level peer mentors. Students were connected with faculty mentors in their discipline through lunches that the SSP faculty team provided each week. These lunches helped reduce food insecurity while also providing an inviting atmosphere for interaction between peers and faculty. Lunches also offered an opportunity to have career discussions and bring in professional development speakers like student organization leaders and graduate students.

At the start of the first quarter of their sophomore year, nineteen students were either still on track or just one quarter behind in their engineering curriculum. This record will be compared with the approximately 420 students who either were eligible or did not take part in this program. Historical data will be reviewed to determine how predictive these initial markers are toward completion of the degree.

AU - Krystal Corbett Cruse
AU - Carl Boyet
AU - James D. Palmer
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Improving First-Year Engineering Student Success with Targeted Financial Assistance, Supplemental Instruction, and Cohort Team Building
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47591
ER -