2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 437: Work in Progress: Transforming STEM Undergraduate Education Through a Hispanic Student Success Servingness Framework

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

Given the need for continued scientific innovation and a diverse, skilled STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce in the United States, increasing the representation of women, Hispanic, Black, first-generation, and other underrepresented groups in STEM is vital. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are recognized for enrolling a large proportion of students from lower income, first generation, and racially marginalized backgrounds. Additionally, Hispanic students earn STEM degrees at high rates at HSIs; in 2016, 46% of Hispanic students who earned STEM bachelor’s degrees graduated from HSIs. HSIs have the potential to play an important role in closing national gaps in STEM degree attainment and workforce needs through intentional policies, practices, and institutional commitment.

An institutional transformation project focused on STEM undergraduate student success and servingness is underway at a public R1 Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in the southern region of the United States. The university enrolls almost 35,000 students, 59% of whom are Hispanic. About 30% percent of undergraduate students are enrolled in the College of Engineering and the College of Sciences. However, the first-year retention rate is 69% and six-year graduation rate is only 31% for the College of Engineering, with slightly lower rates for College of Sciences. Several courses at the university experience substantial failing rates, as high as 31% to 55% in some gateway and required courses for engineering majors, which act as a major obstacle to degree completion for many students at the university. This work-in-progress poster presentation will provide an overview of the 5-year NSF grant collaboration between engineering and education faculty and leaders at an HSI. Additionally, the poster will highlight the educational research methods and progress from the first two years of the project.

Authors

Dr. Katherine R. McCance http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6843-8207 The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]

Dr. Katie McCance is a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas at San Antonio. She received her PhD in STEM Education, with a focus in Science Education, from North Carolina State University. Her research interests include STEM education at HSIs, professional development for STEM instructors, and interdisciplinary collaborations.
Dr. Vanessa Ann Sansone The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]

Vanessa A. Sansone is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Her areas of research interest focus on understanding college affordability, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, governance structures and the geography of postsecondary opportunity. In 2020, she was named as one of the 35 most outstanding women in higher education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education from UTSA, a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from UTSA, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from St. Mary’s University, San Antonio.
Dr. Mark Appleford The University of Texas at San Antonio
Dr. Arturo Montoya http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1429-5105 The University of Texas at San Antonio
Dr. Harry R. Millwater Jr. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7097-9283 The University of Texas at San Antonio
Dr. Jose Francisco Herbert Acero http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-3206-9304 The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]

Dr. Francisco Herbert got his Ph.D. degree in engineering sciences from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in 2015. He serves as professor of instruction at the Mechanical Engineering department of the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Prof. Heather Shipley The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]

Dr. Heather J. Shipley is currently the Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the University College and Burzik Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds a BS degree in Chemistry from Baylor Universit

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Advocacy and Policy
Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology