Evaluating A NACME academic scholarship program

Arizona State University was one of 13 schools that received a five-year block grant in 2003 from the National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering (NACME) to increase the number of underrepresented minority students who receive a Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Computer Science. The first cohort of freshmen students began the academic scholarship program in Fall 2003 and the second cohort in Fall 2004. The students are required to take a two-hour Academic Success course in their first fall semester and to attend a one hour workshop every other week during the following spring semester. During subsequent years, until graduation, the NACME students meet five or six times each semester. This paper evaluates the NACME program in terms of demographics, student evaluations of the course and instructors of the Academic Success course, and the students' academic achievement, including retention, and observations of the instructors of the program. Lessons learned and several changes made in the Academic Success course for the second cohort are examined for possible influence on the students. These changes include a different type of classroom, the use of name placards, more activities for the students to get to know each other with icebreakers and in-class group time, and a handout each class of a summary of the evaluations and questions from the preceding class. Also, changes to continue to improve the program are discussed.