Scholarship Program for Undergraduate Retention and Success (SPURS)

University Of Texas At San Antonio, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Scholarship Program for Undergraduate Retention and Success (SPURS) at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), a Hispanic-Serving Institution, will focus on recruiting financially disadvantaged undergraduate students pursuing degrees in the departments of biomedical, civil, electrical and computer, and mechanical engineering. At least three students from each department will receive scholarships each year, so at least 12 students yearly will participate in the program. The approach will increase the number of undergraduate students who enroll in Engineering and ensure student persistence and completion of a B.S. Engineering degree. The outcome of the program will, in turn, increase the number of students in the STEM workforce and/or graduate programs. The proposed program is significant because it recognizes the need for a diverse work force trained to solve the world's problems and it will eventually increase the diversity of the engineering workforce, especially in South-Central Texas. The program will enhance how UTSA educates and engages students in STEM fields and by encouraging undergraduate students to participate in K-12 outreach activities, the pathway towards engineering will be opened from the earliest grades; this approach could promote more students to study STEM fields. SPURS will provide the participating students skills needed to succeed in engineering careers and those who take advantage of optional research opportunities will be better prepared to pursue graduate studies. Three tasks will accomplish the overall objective: (1) Create an Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship Program; (2) Create a Workshop Series on Critical Thinking, Professional Development, and Research; and (3) Provide students with optional opportunities in research, internships or K-12 STEM outreach programs. Data will be collected to perform formative evaluation of 1) project implementation including management, recruitment, student selection, et alia and 2) progress such as achievement of retention and graduation goals and student academic and professional development success. Summative evaluation of project components will be conducted to determine overall project success at meeting its objectives and lessons learned. The evaluation will also study potential for replication of program components to other universities. The results of the project will be presented to other colleges at UTSA and at national conferences and will be published in engineering educational journals.