Conference: Transforming Engineering Access for Mercer Students (TEAMS)

Mercer County Community College, Princeton Junction NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Transforming Engineering Access for Mercer Students (TEAMS) will engage the community by establishing collaborations between three target groups: high schools, colleges/universities, and the engineering industry. The TEAMS activities will include four conferences, college engineering tours, engineering project field trips, and a presentation of findings at a national engineering conference. The first conference will target area high schools, with a goal of identifying student barriers to engineering. The second conference will target colleges and universities, with a goal of identifying effective institutional interventions. The third conference will target the engineering industry, with a goal of identifying engineering employer needs. The final conference will be a summary roundtable discussion, with a goals of creating an engineering readiness summary and an engineering employee skills summary. TEAMS will broaden participation in engineering by establishing engineering mentoring opportunities, increasing engineering student engagement and motivation, and creating a partnership with engineering stakeholders. The TEAMS program will identify barriers to the engineering profession for those traditionally underserved, and promote participation of diverse students, faculty and professionals. Transforming Engineering Access for Mercer Students (TEAMS) will engage the community by establishing collaborations between three target groups: high schools, colleges/universities, and the engineering industry. The TEAMS activities will include four conferences, college engineering tours, engineering project field trips, and a presentation of findings at a national engineering conference. Conference 1: Area high schools. Target group: students, parents, teachers, and counselors. The goal is to identify student barriers to engineering. Conference 2: Colleges and universities. Target group: New Jersey engineering colleges and universities. The goal is to identify effective indicators for engineering student success in addition to effective institutional interventions. Conference 3: Engineering industry. Target group: engineering consulting firms and professional engineering societies. The goal is to identify engineering employer needs. While the data are assessed from the first three conferences, TEAMS will coordinate: (1) college engineering tours at area engineering programs, and (2) engineering project field trips. Summary Conference. Target group: all stakeholders. The goal is to create an engineering college readiness summary and create an engineering employee skills summary. TEAMS will assess student attitudes about engineering, knowledge about engineering careers, confidence, presence of engineering mentors, motivation, goals, and support. The goal is to identify student barriers to engineering, particularly for underrepresented groups. In addition, TEAMS will identify effective indicators for engineering student success and effective institutional interventions. Finally, TEAMS will identify engineering employer needs. In sum, TEAMS will develop (1) an engineering college readiness summary, and (2) an engineering employee skills summary. These summaries will be used to support institutionalization of lessons learned and will be disseminated to the broader community via a summary report. TEAMS will broaden participation in engineering by establishing engineering mentoring opportunities, increasing engineering student engagement and motivation, and creating a partnership with engineering stakeholders. The TEAMS program will increase the number of low-income, URM, and veteran STEM students who enroll in STEM disciplines, transfer to four-year institutions, and eventually meet local and regional workforce demand. The TEAMS program will identify barriers to the engineering profession for those traditionally underserved, and promote participation of diverse students, faculty, and professionals. Many low-income and nontraditional students begin their college careers at community colleges, and there is a national need to increase transfer success in these populations. The project team will broadly and strategically disseminate the TEAMS findings to promote institutional change. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.