STEM workshops for transfer and retention program at a hispanic serving institution

Abstract

In recent years, it has become a challenge to improve the recruitment and retention of highly motivated Hispanic and other minority students and to keep their interests active in the engineering discipline until their graduation so that they can join the workforce as professional engineers. The STEM - Minority Outreach and Retention Enhancement Program for Transfer and Retention (STEM-MORE-TRP) and the Serving Youth in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics Program (SYSTEM) are designed to recruit the engineering students through a number of enrichment activities, including two-week residential Engineering Workshops at a major Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in southern Texas. Both STEM-MORE-TRP and SYSTEM introduce participants to several engineering disciplines and allows them to interact with engineering faculty and staff through several activities, including information sessions, field trips, laboratory tours, and design projects. Based on the TRP and SYSTEM curriculum, The Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics, Biology and Chemistry departments at a major Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in southern Texas, developed two-week long "Transfer and Retention Program (TRP) workshop" and "Summer Engineering workshop (SEW) during the summer at the university. Also, this provides the extent of what has worked in achieving the goals set out for the cohort. Both of the platforms funded by the U. S. Department of Education envisioned at transferring and retaining highly motivated Hispanic students into the new Bachelors of Science in Systems Engineering at the university. The activities were done in three different stages: recruit students and provide the theme of the program, provide a series of enrichment activities, including advising and faculty mentoring, and participation in the workshops at the university.