2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 375: Reporting the Progress and Performance Evaluation of an Ongoing Integrated Program for Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation of High-Achieving, Low-income Engineering Students

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

The present paper reports an update on an NSF-funded S-STEM program currently in its last year at the University of Illinois Chicago. Lessons learned during the project implementation are also listed in the paper. A summary of the paper materials will be presented at the ASEE 2023 Annual Conference and Exposition as part of the NSF Grantees Poster Session.

The project’s objectives are 1) enhancing students’ learning by providing access to extra and co-curricular experiences, 2) creating a positive student experience through mentorship, and 3) ensuring successful student placement in the STEM workforce or graduate/professional degree program. As part of this project, students are provided with financial assistance. A total of three Cohorts of students are supported by the project: Engineering students who started as freshmen, including 18 students of Cohort I and 13 students of Cohort II, and 19 students who transferred from various community colleges to Cohort III. More than 60% of the students are classified as minorities.

This project has resulted in the creation of several support and intervention programs, including a Summer Bridge Program, an Engineering Success Initiative course, a Service Learning Project course, and an integrated mentoring program that matches each student with an academic mentor (a faculty) and an industry mentor. The paper will summarize the lessons learned from the support programs.

Out of the 18 students recruited by this program as Cohort I, all have already graduated, and 16 have started a job. Cohort II students will graduate next semester (Spring 2023), and the majority of students in Cohort III students will graduate in Spring 2023. Two students dropped out of the university in their first year, and one dropped out of the university in the second year. More information is provided in this paper regarding student retention and performance (Grade Point Average).

Authors

Prof. Houshang Darabi http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7881-6542 The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Dr. Houshang Darabi is a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Darabi’s research focuses on the use of Big Data, process mining, data mining, Operations Research, high performance computing, and visualization in improving educational systems and students’ learning. Dr. Darabi’s research has been funded by federal and corporate sponsors including the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety.
Mrs. Rezvan Nazempour http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-1806-0672 The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Rezvan Nazempour is a graduate research assistant at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is completing her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and operations research at the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department. She received her BSIE from
Dr. Peter C. Nelson The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Peter Nelson was appointed Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicagoâ€™s (UIC) College of Engineering in July of 2008. Prior to assuming his deanship, Professor Nelson was head of the UIC Department of Computer Science. In 1991, Professor Nelson found
Dr. Renata A. Revelo The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Renata A. Revelo is a first-generation college student, who migrated from Ecuador to the United States as a teenager with her parents and sister. She is the first in her family to obtain a Ph.D. She is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research focuses on shifting the culture of engineering via the study of engineering identity which centers on students of color and examines systemic change.
Dr. Shanon Marie Reckinger The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Shanon Reckinger is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder in August of 2011 and an MS degree in
Prof. Didem Ozevin The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Dr. Ozevin is a professor of the Department of Civil, Materials and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Ozevin received her Ph.D. from Lehigh University in 2005. She worked as a research scientist at Physical Acoustics Corporation till 2010. Her research and teaching are related to structural engineering, specifically the nondestructive evaluation of materials and structures.
Dr. Betul Bilgin The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Betul Bilgin is a Clinical Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). With a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University, Dr. Bilgin has extensive experience in both biotechnology research and engineering education. Since joining UIC, she has developed and taught various undergraduate courses, integrating innovative teaching methods and industry-relevant content to enhance student learning and engagement.

Dr. Bilgin's research focuses on engineering education, particularly in fostering professional identity among engineering students and integrating data science into the chemical engineering curriculum. She has received multiple awards for her contributions to teaching and mentoring, including the ASEE Ray Fahien Award and the UIC COE Harold Simon Award. Dr. Bilgin is also actively involved in professional service, currently serving as the Director of the Chemical Engineering Division for ASEE and participating in various initiatives to improve engineering education and student success.
Dr. Anthony E. Felder http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4533-8369 The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Anthony's current focus is on engineering education and its restructuring to better meet the diverse needs of students and industries. Anthony is also active in ophthalmology research for the multimodal imaging of retinal oxygenation and novel medical device design.

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