This project is being supported under a special funding focus for STEP, "Graduate 10K+," an activity of the National Science Foundation, supported in part by donations from the Intel Foundation and the GE Foundation, to stimulate comprehensive action at universities and colleges to help increase the annual number of new B.S. graduates in engineering and computer science by 10,000 over the next decade. The aim of this particular project is to significantly increase 1st and 2nd year retention rates and graduation rates in engineering and computer science at Syracuse University. Towards this end the project is re-forming the undergraduate experience into one with a more welcoming climate, promoting strong faculty-student interactions and best practices in engineering education. In particular, the project team is focusing on a multi-pronged approach to improving the quality of instruction and academic advising through a synergistic series of activities including: a well-supported faculty development program in best practices in engineering education; the complete re-design of the first semester gateway engineering course with help from Bucknell University faculty; implementation of innovative pedagogy in target 1st and 2nd year classes; guidance for faculty in their advising practice and establishment of a framework for continuous quality improvement in academic advising; and extension of previously tested first year academic support and community building programs into the second year.
This project has the capacity to transform engineering and computer science education at Syracuse University, and to serve as a model for other STEM departments on campus and at other universities. It is designed to meet the national need to graduate more engineers and computer scientists who will help to fuel the American economy, as well as contribute creative solutions to technological challenges. The emphasis on improving the climate is expected to have a positive impact on all students, but most especially on students from underrepresented groups and women. Furthermore, in the process of creating institutional change, the individual faculty members are gaining lifelong teaching and advising skills that can carry through their practice at Syracuse University or wherever they may be faculty in the future.
