2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Wisconsin Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) works to retain graduate students by providing the support they need to be successful, including financial, academic, and psychosocial support. The Wisconsin MRSEC also encourages collaboration, close relationships with faculty, and immersion in research. As part of this work, the MRSEC developed a novel, limited time intervention designed to promote students’ sense of belonging at the university and self-efficacy in research through a funded campus onboarding program held prior to their matriculation date. The MRSEC’s Forward Fellows (FF) program, launched in 2024, funded students from underserved groups who were admitted to graduate programs in departments affiliated with the MRSEC. These students engaged in mentored research for one month prior to their official matriculation date and participated in both community building and professional development activities.
Since FF is a new program, the planning committee gathered input from all eligible departments and current science and engineering graduate students to determine how to design an impactful program that fits the diverse departmental and student needs. Findings from the departments led the committee to implement a rolling application process that included both a mentor and student application, a flexible end date to accommodate different graduate program orientation start dates, and an appointment type that ensured the students received both funding and health insurance with no gap between program and matriculation. Data from current science and engineering graduate students informed the professional development program that consisted of three lunch meetings per week covering a range of topics including: Mentoring Up, Reading the Literature, and Social Belonging. Social events enabled the FF to meet current graduate students and faculty outside their home departments.
In the 2024 pilot program, the MRSEC funded 10 graduate students from nine different departments. The mid-program feedback session highlighted program successes and suggestions for improvement that were used to shape the remainder of the program. Data collection also included a post-program feedback session, and a longitudinal survey designed to let students reflect on the utility of the program activities relative to their current graduate experiences. FF participant feedback highlighted how useful students found the extra time to start research, specific professional development sessions, extra time to adjust to campus life, and the opportunity to connect with their FF cohort. The combined data will be used to shape the 2025 program with a long-term goal of expanding the program beyond MRSEC affiliated departments.