2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Reimagining Multi-institutional Outreach Program Evaluation through the Cultural Wealth of Students of Color

Presented at Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND) Technical Session 11

Despite the large number of federal grant programs that require the inclusion of a minority-serving institution (MSI) as one of the key collaborators in large, multi-institutional grant proposals, very few studies have examined the complex relationships between Predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) working for their shared goals of scientific research and other programmatic implementation. Furthermore, it is unknown how their collaboration space and related activities function as an affirming, supportive, and even transformative space for historically marginalized students of partnering MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This paper illustrates a case of transformative program evaluation that capitalized on the cultural assets of MSI’s students of color in a multi-institutional collaboration grant. The team of PWI and HBCU faculty and staff members collaborated on a STEM outreach program to make the two universities’ STEM resources accessible to middle and high school students in traditionally excluded rural and urban communities. The STEM enrichment program evaluation was guided by Inclusive and transformative evaluation principles (Mertens, 2009), which highlights “diversity, the inclusion of diverse groups, and the promotion of equity through intentional work against oppressive systems” (Christie & Alkin, 2024 p. 34). The evaluation team intentionally included several HBCU undergraduate students over the two years of its program implementation and facilitated their critical reflections and professional development as emerging black professionals in engineering and education. As a result, these HBCU students played a pivotal role in leading the enrichment program and identifying and filling in the critical void unnoticed—and hard to address--by PWI members. Faculty and other stakeholders of color also played a pivotal role as advocates of the HBCU students and the voices of the rural and urban communities served by the enrichment program.

The outcomes from our transformative program evaluation offer important insights into recognizing and amplifying the cultural assets of HBCU/MSI students in the unique spatial context of PWI-HBCU’s institutional collaboration. Based on two-year-long program evaluation data, we contest that multi-institutional collaborations should strive to create a safe and, more importantly, generative space where involved HBCU/MSI students can play an active role in driving the overall quality of inter-institutional collaboration in light of diversity, equity, and social justice. This type of institutional collaboration will fill the critical void that is often invisible and missed by their PWI partners and ultimately lead to creativity and innovation (Flemming et al., 2007).

Authors

Dr. Jae Hoon Lim http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8167-1866 University of North Carolina at Charlotte [biography]

Dr. Jae Hoon Lim is a Professor of Educational Research at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research explores the dialogical process of identity construction among students of color and examines the impact of sociocultural factors on their academic experiences. She has served as a co-PI for multiple federal grant projects, including a 1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Her research has been published in several premier journals, including the Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Higher Education, and Science and Engineering and Ethics. She is a contributing author to several books published by Oxford University Press, Teachers College Press, and University of California Press. She served as President for the Korean American Educational Researchers Association, including President in 2013-2014, and Chair of the KAERA Board of Directors in 2019-2020.
Dr. Jerry Lynn Dahlberg Jr http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2778-5349 University of Tennessee Space Institute [biography]

Jerry Dahlberg is the Senior Director of Research at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Prior to joining UTSI, he was an Assistant Teaching Professor and Senior Design Committee Chair at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering Science in 2014, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2016 and PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2018 from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Terry L. Miller Alabama A&M University [biography]

A native of Huntsville, AL, Ms. Terry Miller has over 20 years of experience in higher education. She has held various administrative and faculty roles. Currently, she is the Director of Experiential Learning and Outreach and a teaching professor in the Department of Computer Science at Alabama A&M University (AAMU). In this position, she is responsible for augmenting and enhancing the overall student academic experience by proving access to engagement and outreach opportunities. She is also responsible for spearheading the ideation, development, and establishment of numerous strategic academic partnerships with leaders in industry. She holds memberships in the American Society for Engineering Education, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) where she is the advisor for the campus chapter. Terry earned her B.S. and M.S. degree in Computer Science from AAMU and in her leisure time, she likes gourmet cooking and traveling. Living daily by the motto “Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives-Michelle Obama” she aspires to get the most out of what life has to offer.
Sohee Kim University of South Alabama
Dr. Zhengtao Deng Alabama A&M University [biography]

Dr. ZT Deng is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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