The Academic Community for Engineering Students (ACES)

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the project, a joint effort between the University of Virginia (UVa) and Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC), is to increase the number of students earning engineering baccalaureate degrees. There is an emphasis on increasing the number of graduates from underrepresented populations in engineering, primarily through the implementation of a set of proven and innovative activities designed to increase retention rates. The minimum projected program outcomes are to increase the UVa's 1st to 2nd year retention from 88% to 96% and its 5-year graduation rate from 72% to 80% and to increase TNCC transfer and three-year graduation rates from 50% to 58% over the course of the grant period. Project activities for UVa first-year and transfer students include a summer bridge program, engineering excellence workshops, an engineering peer mentoring program, a transfer student network, and a creative engineering design course. Activities for TNCC students include a professional development workshop, a UVa-to-TNCC advising and mentoring program, and a UVa-TNCC summer laboratory research program. Joint activities are an engineering open houses/community college day, campus visits, and an engineering seminar series. Also, both institutions will host social events aimed at fostering closer bonds among students and the program's institutional management, faculty, and alumni. Project activities also are making substantive contributions to research in undergraduate engineering education by providing opportunities to validate existing activities and measuring the effectiveness of new ones. The evaluation effort, which is being performed by a specialist in the UVa School of Education and Center for Institutional Assessment and Studies, is tracking the number of participants, their academic progress, and their response to the project's activities. Broader impacts include the interactions among the students and faculty members at a major university and a community college and the increase in the number and diversity of well prepared engineering graduates.