This project focuses on students who transfer at the third year level from 2-year schools to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). With scholarship support from NSF, the project is acting to recruit, retain and graduate additional transfer scholars in the engineering and technology BS degree programs. NSF funding supports 30 transfer scholars in the first year, and 15 additional scholars per year for the following three years. RIT is providing an additional $90,000 to ensure that MEET scholars have continuing financial support after the grant expires to help them graduate on time.
The MEET Scholars Program represents a collaborative effort of five academic departments across two colleges, and the Enrollment Management and Career Services Division at RIT. All of the programs in the five participating departments are ABET-accredited. RIT has numerous student support and intervention programs. Among these are programs for mentoring students and an in-house mandatory cooperative education program. The mentoring and cooperative education programs help students address their financial needs and facilitate placement in the high technology workforce. In the mandatory cooperative education programs, students acquire one year of industrial experience before graduation.
This project is being assessed periodically using quantitative data such as grades, GPA and co-op salaries as well as data from surveys of participating scholars, faculty and administrators. Evaluation is in the form of an annual report based on assessments, and includes recommendations for adding, deleting or modifying specific program elements to enhance the program's success rate. The results are disseminated via engineering and technology education conferences at both regional and national levels.
