2009 Workshop on Best Practices for Recruitment and Transition of Engineering Students from Community Colleges to Four Year Institutions. Principal Investigator: Louis Dale
This proposal is an effort to recruit more women and underrepresented minorities into engineering fields from community colleges and to facilitate their transition to four year institutions as smooth as possible. This will be accomplished by involving the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) principal investigators and their community college partners in a joint workshop designed to identify and review "best practices" for the recruitment and transition of community college students interested in engineering and science to four year institutions.
Experts in the field along with students, faculty and administrators from community colleges and four year institutions will be involved in two days of intensive dialogue highlighting best practices across the nation. An evaluation of the workshop will take place and the proceedings will be published to share these findings with other college and university administrators. The goal of these efforts is to increase the number of community college students entering four year institutions to major in engineering, particularly four year LSAMP institutions.
Intellectual Merit - The project is an important step in advancing the knowledge of women and underrepresented minority students in engineering and science at the community college level through the recruitment process. The experiences gained by the participants in the proposed workshop will enhance their knowledge of the recruitment and transition of underrepresented students and impact their educational programs. The proposed workshop will assemble experts in important aspects of the community college recruitment and university transfer and retention process. Effective dissemination of the outcomes is an important aspect of the success of this project.
Broader Impact - The project broadens participation of underrepresented groups in four year colleges with the real prospect of increasing the number of such groups attaining bachelor?s degrees in engineering and science. Discovery and understanding resulting from this project will be disseminated via a national publication of the workshop proceedings to other institutions and programs focusing on undergraduate education. The project has the potential for transforming the procedures and practices of community college recruitment to the next level.
Omnia El-Hakim, Ph.D.-Program Director For Diversity and Outreach National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering 4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 505N Arlington, VA 22230 Tel: (703) 292- 2149 Fax: (703) 292- 9013 E-Mail: oelhakim@nsf.gov
