The Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) in Engineering Program

Jeremy Kingma; Eve A. Riskin; John B. Schneider; Robert G. Olsen; Sonya Cunningham; Dawn Wiggin; Kirk A. Reinkens; Scott Winter

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: NSF Grantees’ Poster Session
Tagged Division: Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies
Tagged Topic: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 7
Page Numbers: 24.1256.1 - 24.1256.7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--23189
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/23189
Download Count: 513

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Paper Authors

biography

Jeremy Kingma Washington State University

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STARS Director
M.S. Material Science & Engineering
B.S. Mechanical Engineering

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biography

Eve A. Riskin University of Washington

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Eve Riskin received her BS degree in Electrical Engineering from
M.I.T. and her graduate degrees in EE from Stanford. Since 1990, she
has been in the EE Department at the University of Washington where
she is now Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of
Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the
ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change. Her research interests include image compression and image processing, with a focus on developing video compression algorithms to allow for cell-phone transmission of American Sign Language. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, a Sloan Research Fellowship, and the 2006 Hewlett-Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award. She is a Fellow of the IEEE.

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John B. Schneider Washington State University

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John Schneider is the associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College of Engineering and Architecture at Washington State University (WSU) and a faculty member in WSU's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He has taught courses ranging from introductory programming at the freshman level to advanced electromagnetics at the graduate level. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and has been selected as the WSU EECS Researcher of the Year and the School's Teacher of the Year.

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Robert G. Olsen Washington State University

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Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture for Undergraduate Programs and Student Services and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Washington State University. He received the BS degree from Rutgers University and the MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado all in electrical engineering. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, and an Honorary Life member of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society. He is past Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility and Radio Science. As Associate Dean he is responsible for the accreditation process, recruitment and retention of students, community college visitation, management of the scholarship program and services to university and state committees. In addition to these activities, he has created the Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship Institute in cooperation with the College of Business that exposes engineering students to the realities of the business aspects of engineering and better prepares them to work in the changing global marketplace. This work resulted in the 2008 Kauffman Foundation award for contributions to entrepreneurship education. Given the global nature of the economy, he has also worked to make it possible for engineering students to get general education credit for the study of foreign language. Finally, he has (with NSF support and in conjunction with the University of Washington and several community colleges) begun a major effort to recruit students into engineering who have not traditionally considered or entered the study of engineering.

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Abstract

The Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) in Engineering Program Retention of economically and educationally disadvantaged students in engineering disciplines is a challenge facing all engineering programs across the nation. In Washington state, this issue is critical as 35% of its high schools have over half of their students receiving free or reduced priced lunch, an indicator of the challenge schools face in preparing students for the rigor of college study in an engineering field. Leveraging an opportunity afforded by the Washington state’s legislature mandating an increase of 225 engineering degrees a year, the Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) program was conceived to increase the number of economically and educationally disadvantaged students who graduate with engineering degrees from both the University of Washington and Washington State University. This program couples Washington’s two leading state universities in a partnership where best practices and lesson’s learned are shared with the goal of retaining students not previously likely to have completed an engineering program. The STARS program, modeled after the University of Colorado Boulder GoldShirt Program, can be likened to the redshirt year used to develop talented athletes in college athletics. In this first redshirt year, STARS students are offered intensive support, preparing them with the academic and learning skills required to be successful in engineering the following four years. The academic focus of the STARS program is on bringing the student’s math skills and efficacy up to levels required to successfully pass Calculus I, an early indicator of future success in an engineering program. Additionally, connecting students in a supportive academic and social community is emphasized. Overall, a high touch approach is being used create an environment of growth and development not previously offered to these talented and motivated students. We present results from the first year of the programs as well as lessons learned in supporting at-‐risk students in Engineering.

Citation
Format

Kingma, J., & Riskin, E. A., & Schneider, J. B., & Olsen, R. G., & Cunningham, S., & Wiggin, D., & Reinkens, K. A., & Winter, S. (2014, June), The Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) in Engineering Program Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--23189

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -    The  Washington  State  Academic  RedShirt  (STARS)  in  Engineering  Program    Retention  of  economically  and  educationally  disadvantaged  students  in  engineering  disciplines   is   a   challenge   facing   all   engineering   programs   across   the   nation.      In  Washington   state,   this   issue   is   critical   as   35%   of   its   high   schools   have   over   half   of  their  students  receiving  free  or  reduced  priced  lunch,  an  indicator  of  the  challenge  schools   face   in   preparing   students   for   the   rigor   of   college   study   in   an   engineering  field.      Leveraging   an   opportunity   afforded   by   the   Washington   state’s   legislature  mandating   an   increase   of   225   engineering   degrees   a   year,   the   Washington   State  Academic   RedShirt   (STARS)   program   was   conceived   to   increase   the   number   of  economically   and   educationally   disadvantaged   students   who   graduate   with  engineering  degrees  from  both  the  University  of  Washington  and  Washington  State  University.    This  program  couples  Washington’s  two  leading  state  universities  in  a  partnership   where   best   practices   and   lesson’s   learned   are   shared   with   the   goal   of  retaining  students  not  previously  likely  to  have  completed  an  engineering  program.        The   STARS   program,   modeled   after   the   University   of   Colorado   Boulder   GoldShirt  Program,   can   be   likened   to   the   redshirt   year   used   to   develop   talented   athletes   in  college   athletics.      In   this   first   redshirt   year,   STARS   students   are   offered   intensive  support,   preparing   them   with   the   academic   and   learning   skills   required   to   be  successful   in   engineering   the   following   four   years.         The   academic   focus   of   the  STARS   program   is   on   bringing   the   student’s   math   skills   and   efficacy   up   to   levels  required   to   successfully   pass   Calculus   I,   an   early   indicator   of   future   success   in   an  engineering   program.      Additionally,   connecting   students   in   a   supportive   academic  and  social  community  is  emphasized.    Overall,  a  high  touch  approach  is  being  used  create  an  environment  of  growth  and  development  not  previously  offered  to  these  talented   and   motivated   students.   We   present   results   from   the   first   year   of   the  programs  as  well  as  lessons  learned  in  supporting  at-‐risk  students  in  Engineering.    
AU  - Jeremy Kingma
AU  - Eve A. Riskin
AU  - John B. Schneider
AU  - Robert G. Olsen
AU  - Sonya Cunningham
AU  - Dawn Wiggin
AU  - Kirk A. Reinkens
AU  - Scott Winter
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - The Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) in Engineering Program
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/23189
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--23189
ER  -