In September 2010, NSF-TCUP and the NSF Directorate for Engineering made PEEC awards to four Lead institutions. These Lead colleges each formed collaborative partnerships with additional colleges or universities. A total of sixteen (16) institutions have partnered to receive PEEC awards. The PEEC program is making it possible for tribal colleges to develop and implement pre-engineering or engineering degrees at their institutions by forming collaborative partnerships with university-colleges of engineering to which TCUP students may transfer. A two day workshop, located in Minneapolis, will focus on the best practices for successfully recruiting and retaining students in pre-engineering and engineering. During the workshop participants will discuss issues and participate in formal sessions during which they will share experiences and ideas about the future of pre-engineering and engineering at tribal colleges. A primary focus will be to improve matriculation success rates and the continued development of degree programs at the tribal colleges. NSF-TCUP and Directorate for Engineering officials will participate, as will expert consultants. One outcome will be a publication of the workshop proceedings to include recommendations for program growth.
The development of effective engineering degree tracks, appropriate curriculums, methods of instructional delivery, along with the necessary support mechanisms can produce models that can be adapted by other colleges and universities to better serve all underrepresented groups. The workshop will add to the national discussion about broadening participation by sharing how PEEC projects contribute to the global body of knowledge specific to engineering education.
The primary activity of this award was organizing a workshop for the Pre-Engineering Education Collaboratives (PEEC) projects. All of the projects were represented by twenty-four (24) participants from thirteen (13) different colleges and universities. These participants include principal investigators, project directors, key faculty members, and a tribal college president. The PEEC Workshop was held in Minneapolis on August 1st – 3rd, 2012. It provided a forum where the individual projects were able to share their experiences, including the challenges and opportunities involved in the creation of the collaborative model of education between the Tribal Colleges & Universities (TCUs) and the state universities’ colleges of engineering. Additionally the participants were asked to work together to develop strategies to improve their current programs and how to sustain this effort into the future. Representatives from the National Science Foundation actively participated in these discussions, in addition to leading other sessions. While a range of topics was discussed, the workshop was primarily organized to identify the challenges and advantages in utilizing the Conceptual (Curriculum) Framework. This model was the guiding concept for the PEEC program, where successful proposals incorporated the Four Pillars of Success: Cohorts, Math Acceleration, Distance Learning, and Service Learning. Presentations and group discussions were utilized to examine both the challenges and successes encountered by the various PEEC projects as they implemented their versions of these pillars. Given the timing of the workshop, with over half of the award period remaining, the projects will be able to use the information gathered from other sites to improve their own efforts. Paul Boyer’s Bringing Engineering to Indians: A Status Report on the National Science Foundation’s Pre-Engineering Education Collaborative provides a more detailed account of the PEEC Workshop, and is available at www.swc.tc/Scott%20Morgan/Bringing_Engeering_to_Indians.pdf. Additional information regarding the PEEC Workshop and the individual projects can be found at http://online.swc.tc/peec/.
