2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Bridging the Digital Divide in Higher Education: Evaluating the META Zones Project at an HBCU

Presented at Community Engagement Division (COMMENG) Technical Session 3

Although digital technologies are now central to teaching and learning in higher education, many students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to experience limitations in device reliability, home connectivity, and digital readiness. This Work-in-Progress study evaluates early outcomes of the META Zones Initiative, a multicomponent digital-inclusion effort designed to strengthen academic participation and socio-technical capacity at HBCU. The evaluation draws on laptop allocation records (n = 850), including 338 devices allocated to students across two distribution cycles and 98 distributed to underserved community workforce groups; student survey responses (70 of 278 eligible recipients); community broadband data from the NTIA Broadband and Health Connectivity Survey (n = 53); and workforce-training outcomes from three NPower cohorts. Students consistently described the issued laptops as essential for navigating coursework, accessing the learning management system (LMS), and participating in online assessments. Reported improvements in digital literacy including typing proficiency, research ability, and time management indicate early gains in academic readiness. Community findings revealed ongoing connectivity challenges, including reliance on mobile-only home internet access alongside strong interest in digital- and telehealth-training opportunities. Workforce-training results showed promising progressive attainment in digital credentials, supporting the program initiative on the corridors of human-capital objectives. Collectively, these early findings suggest that coordinated interventions combining reliable connectivity pathways, and targeted skills development can dwindle digital friction for students while HBCU is strategically positioned as a regional anchor for digital equity. Ongoing work will incorporate longitudinal tracking and additional administrative datasets to refine a scalable model for digital-inclusion practice at HBCUs and peer institutions.

Authors

John Ujah http://orcid.org/https://0009-0002-9803-0592 University of Maryland College Park [biography]

John Afam Ujah holds a Master of Engineering in Project Management from the University of Maryland and has a background in civil engineering. His research focuses on the sustainability evaluation of digital health systems, telehealth environmental impacts, and benefit–cost analysis of infrastructure technologies. His work explores how telehealth and digital inclusion can contribute to sustainable urban systems and engineering education.
Zita Olugbuo http://orcid.org/0009-0004-2292-7170 Arizona State University [biography]

Zita is currently a Masters in Sustainability Leadership Student at Arizona State University USA. She also holds a Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa, BSc in Geology from University of Calabar, a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Geology from University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, West Africa.
With over a decade of experience as a geo-environmental professional, her background includes experience in water engineering and in oil and gas consulting. Sustainability has remained a core focus throughout her career, bridging academic and professional experience in natural resource management specifically within water resources, sustainable consumption and production, resource efficiency and environmental geology.
Ayobami Christianah Dunmoye Morgan State University [biography]

Ayobami Dunmoye holds a BSc in Architecture and is currently pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering, specializing in Construction Management. Her research and academic focus center on Sustainable Infrastructure and Resilient Engineering, with a strong passion for developing smart, sustainable, and resilient built environments. Dedicated to bridging the gap between design, engineering, and construction management, Ayobami aims to contribute to the advancement of innovative practices that support sustainable development and resilient infrastructure.
Julius Ogaga Etuke http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2710-2803 Morgan State University [biography]

Julius Ogaga Etuke is a seasoned civil engineer and Ph.D. Candidate in Civil Engineering at Morgan State University, where his research focuses on sustainable and resilient infrastructure engineering. With over 15 years of consulting and project leadership experience, primarily in Nigeria's infrastructure landscape, he brings a robust, practical perspective to academic inquiry. His doctoral research is at the cutting edge of transportation resilience, integrating virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), climate adaptation modeling, and data-driven solutions to improve disaster preparedness and risk mitigation in complex transportation systems. As a COREN-registered engineer and member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, his work emphasizes impactful research and consultancy that bridges structural design principles with urgent sustainability and resilience challenges.
Dr. Oludare Adegbola Owolabi P.E. Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. Oludare Owolabi, a professional engineer in Maryland, joined the Morgan State University faculty in 2010. He is the director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Smart Innovation and Resilient Engineering Research Lab, Department of Civil Engineering at Morgan State University.
Dr. Olushola V. Emiola-Owolabi http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-8521-5769 Morgan State University [biography]

Olushola Emiola-Owolabi is an engineering pedagogy specialist, researching active learning in engineering classrooms and specializing in qualitative methods research on teaching and learning – particularly in remote synchronous learning environments.
Dr. Uttam Gaulee http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3010-2812

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