2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Our engineering students have a common first year and do not select their major until the spring of their first year – and enter Chemical Engineering in the fall of their sophomore year. In addition, almost 20 % of our students are transfer students from 3-2 universities, regional campuses and internal transfers from Arts & Sciences. Therefore, it is important for us to provide professional development as quickly as possible – so that our ChE students can make decisions concerning cooperative-education, internships and pursuing undergraduate research. To accomplish this goal, we have restructured our undergraduate seminar and undergraduate advising. In our undergraduate seminar (in conjunction with our student chapter of AIChE) we provide a series of seminars which focus on resume writing, interview skills, undergraduate research opportunities, and panels of ChE students who have participated in co-op, internships and undergraduate research. Also, we have a separate senior seminar course which focuses workshops for success at a career fair, typical (and illegal) interview questions, applying to graduate school and visits, business etiquette, financial advice, Alumni panels (with graduates with three to seven years of experience), professional licensure, etc.
In addition, we have moved towards the ‘intrusive model’ of advising, which is an action-oriented approach to involving and motivating students to seek help when needed, and involves proactive interaction with students, with the intention of connecting with them before a situation occurs that cannot be fixed. It is not ‘hand-holding’ or parenting, but rather active concern for student’s academic preparation: it is a willingness to assist students in exploring services and programs to improve skills and increase academic motivation, in three direct co-curricular areas 1) degree planning and academic advising; 2) understanding and connecting to high-impact practices and 3) developmental student engagement. Chief tools for employment of these enhanced support strategies included our seminar course, periodic advising faculty training, and concrete resource creation and development.
Also in our sophomore material and energy balance class, we participate in the UBelong Ecological Belonging reflective exercise, which aims to establish a classroom norm that adversity in the course is common and temporary, and that students from marginalized backgrounds can succeed. The activity is grounded in concepts of belonging uncertainty and stereotype threat, which are psychological states which can negatively impact academic performance. This activity aims to disrupt these negative feedback loops and promote a positive sense of belonging and resilience. In addition, after the first exam, when students are often disheartened by their exam scores, we invite seniors who struggled themselves and are now close to graduation, to share words of encouragement to pass on to our sophomores. We also review the study cycle, test taking tips, and tips for students who are disappointed with their exam scores.
Furthermore, we developed a scavenger hunt with a “Get Your Ducks in a Row” theme to help the students discover study tables and study lounges on the Chemical Engineering floors of the Engineering building and to make connections with ChE faculty, advisors and Teaching Fellows; while creating a sense of community and belonging.
Details of these activities and results are provided in this paper and presentation.