Mississippi State University (MSU) proposes a project to increase the number of students entering and graduating from degree programs in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, and Business Information Systems at four institutions of higher learning in the Mississippi. The project will have four major components:
(1) A Leadership Experience in Computing program, focusing on the transition from community colleges into 4 year programs. It will provide full summer school scholarships to community college students, enabling them to take two college credit courses, one an iPhone/iPod Touch programming class, designed specifically to show that programming can be interesting and fun, and the other, a service-oriented class that shows how computing fits into a variety of career paths.
(2) A Career Advisory Council that will engage local employers in order to get commitments to provide internships, interviews, and jobs for project graduates.
(3) A recruiting campaign that will educate high school, community college, and undergraduate students on the wide range of career options in computing related fields.
(4) The development of a community college-to-university articulation agreements.
The project will leverage existing relationships - between the participating community colleges and Mississippi's secondary schools, and between MSU and existing employers - to develop a seamless pathway between Mississippi's system of fifteen community colleges and MSU.
The project team proposed a three-year effort which included four major objectives. 1. initiate unique, exciting programs targeted at underrepresented groups at Mississippi secondary schools, community colleges, and universities in a concerted effort to boost the success of those groups in pursuing computing degrees and careers; 2. gain commitments from employer organizations to provide internship opportunities for MSU computing students, and to interview and hire graduates of those programs; 3. educate potential new students about the wide range of career options in computing and computing-related fields and the tremendous demand for graduates of computing programs; 4. develop a coordinated, clearly defined, and well-known path to a computing degree that begins in secondary school, and continues through a Mississippi community college and/or university. A key component of this project (relating to objectives 1, 3, and 4) involved a four-week, on-campus summer program for community college and high school students. A total of 64 community college and high school students participated in the summer programs in 2010, 2011, and 2012, where students took an iOS programming class, and a Leadership in Computing class. They lived in student housing alongside MSU students. MSU student (computing major) mentors lived among them, advised them, and introduced them to aspects of university student life. 14 of the summer students have transitioned to MSU computing majors, and 6 have graduated from MSU computing majors (others remain on track for graduation). As a result of communications with community college and high school computing teachers, advisors, and administrators as part of this project, the PIs saw an opportunity to enhance the efforts in objective 4 by providing an online class for academic credit, and offered such a class in summer 2012 and summer 2013. Over 50 teachers participated in the two online classes, and now have an academic relationship with MSU. Both the Computer Science program and the Business Information Systems program have involved their advisory boards in the program (objective 2). This has included presentations by both the PIs and by summer program students who transitioned to MSU. Advisory Board members have responded with great interest, and commitments to providing additional opportunities for "BPC graduates". BPC graduates, students who participated in the summer program, transitioned to MSU, and have graduated from MSU have begun careers at FedEx (represented by both CS and BIS advisory boards), International Paper (both boards), ExxonMobil (both boards), George Washington University, and more. The project was initiated with several specific goals: 1. Increase the number of students who graduate from the four MSU computing majors from the current 100 graduates to 125 graduates per year. In 2013/2014, MSU awarded 47 undergraduate degrees in Business Information Systems, 58 in Computer Science, 23 in Software Engineering, and 18 in Computer Engineering, for a total of 146 undergraduate computing degrees. 2. Increase the number of students who transition from community college to the four MSU computing majors from the current 60 to 90 students per year. In 2013/2014, 120 students transferred from community colleges into MSU's computing majors: 20 into Business Information Systems, 42 into Computer Science, 21 in Software Engineering, and 37 in Computer Engineering. 3. Enroll at least 20 female students as new students in the four computing majors each year. In 2013/2014, 2 female students enrolled in the Business Information Systems program as new students, 8 enrolled in Computer Science, 0 in Software Engineering, and 4 in Computer Engineering, for a total of 14 new female students, falling short of the project's goal. 4. Enroll at least 20 African American students as new students in the four computing majors each year. In 2013/2014, 2 African American students enrolled in the Business Information Systems program as new students, 8 enrolled in Computer Science, 2 in Software Engineering, and 11 in Computer Engineering, for a total of 23 new African students, surpassing the goal of 20.
