Engineering recruitment and retention: A successful bridge

Arizona State University's (ASU) Office of Minority Engineering Programs (OMEP) hosted a very unique Minority Engineering Program (MEP) Summer Bridge Program to promote greater awareness of and recruit potential candidates to the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS). The program content and curriculum were designed to prepare underrepresented ethnic minority students for success in the CEAS at ASU. This two week residential program was funded through a collaborative effort by the Coalition to Increase Minority Degrees (a federally funded agency) and the CEAS Dean's Office. Unlike other programs, the curriculum was developed through the collaborative effort of an engineering faculty member and three students. The curriculum focused on engineering design, technical communications, and included a design project. The three undergraduate engineering students successfully delivered the entire curriculum. The goal was to teach the incoming students about the engineering curriculum and team building through the use of student role models. Academic scholarships were awarded to all participants based on a team design project competition. The competition included the design of web pages, documentation in individual design notebooks, and a presentation to industry representatives and parents. Overall, 65 students applied for the available 44 positions in the program. As a recruitment tool, the program was an overwhelming success with all 44 students enrolling in the CEAS during the Fall 1996 Semester. This paper will describe the program, the curriculum, and the participant evaluations of the program. In addition, the paper will discuss the setting for the program in the university and the need for it.