With the rise in the number of engineering positions in the workforce, and the decrease of graduates to fill those positions, institutions of higher education have to rethink their recruiting efforts to attract top notched students within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In 2005, the National Science Foundation awarded the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville a STEM Talent Expansion Program (STEP) grant to engage students in STEM disciplines. A key focus of this grant is to provide summer research opportunities (May-mester) for community college students partnering with faculty and graduate students at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK). To date, 129 students have participated in this summer research program with 42 students having successfully transferred to TAMUK to pursue undergraduate degrees in STEM fields. More students are expected to transfer in the next couple of years as they graduate from community colleges. This paper highlights successes and challenges of this program. The Maymester research experience impacts favorably the students' decision to become an engineering, a science, or a math major, increases students' confidence and motivation to pursue higher academic degrees, and gives students opportunities for leadership roles in professional organizations. The TAMUK-STEP model for student success and persistence can be used as a base for similar initiatives at any higher education institution. Background With the high demand for jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and not enough skilled men and women to fill these jobs especially in Texas 4 , it is easy to ascertain that there is a great need for universities and other institutions of higher education to take a more proactive stance in ensuring that there is an abundant number of graduates to meet these demands. Almost 13 million workers have found the need for bachelor degree-level knowledge in the areas of science and/or engineering although only about a third of the workers were actually employed in science and/or engineering occupations 4. According to the 2008 Department of Labor report 5 , jobs in the STEM disciplines will potentially increase by approximately 51%; however, over 6 million of these jobs will remain unfilled because there are not enough graduates completing their degrees to fill these positions. In addition, there is an even larger shortage of minorities and women in these fields which raises even greater concerns for not only universities, but for employers as well 10. Because of the need to recruit and retain more students into the STEM disciplines, many universities are taking a more proactive stance in the recruiting and retention of students. The Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering and
Introduction: Because of a decrease in enrollment in mathematics and science, the numbers of U.S. students going into an engineering discipline have declined drastically during the last two decades 2. In most cases, K-12 students were not even motivated to take courses in science and/or mathematics thus further preparing them for careers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related college degree programs 3. As a result, there was a 25% drop in undergraduate enrollment reported during 1982-2000 period 4. In the same study, it was noted that over 800,000 students graduated from high schools in 2000; however, only 7,200 of these students graduated with an engineering degree from a four-year institution 4. To further accentuate the problem, the numbers of students in STEM related disciplines in underrepresented groups such as women, Hispanics, and African-Americans were at an even greater deficit as they appear to select careers in programs such as the social sciences or complete their degree program at a two-year institution as opposed to a four-year institution 5, 6. In contrast to the aforementioned engineering enrollment problems, the engineering job market growth is expected to exceed 10.57% in the near future 7 , with the highest percentage gain coming from environmental, biomedical, and civil engineering disciplines, and because of this, the need to increase the number of engineering graduates should be addressed immediately. Implementing outreach camps that attract high school students for all engineering disciplines has been proven to be an effective approach to partially addressing the shortage of engineers. There have been various engineering outreach camps focusing on specific groups of students such as urban area students 8 , specific grade levels 9 or gender 10, 11 , or specific minority groups 1,12 , illustrating the effectiveness and success of these camps. Some camps require a camp fee 13 , minimum grade-point-average (GPA) 14 or local sponsorship 15 ; whereas some offer specific topics such as robotics, 16 rocketry 17 or even take place in a shorter duration 18. To overcome the restrictions that these types of camps hold over potential participants, a more comprehensive engineering outreach camp 1 was established in 2008 at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK). This camp included hands-on STEM related projects from several different disciplines and included project documentation and competitions, and presentations from university admission and financial aid (UAFA) departments. This paper describes the improvements made in the summer 2009 camp based on the previous years' camp survey results 1 and participant attitudes 19 to improve the overall camp effectiveness, evaluates the outcomes for the improved camp and summarizes the overall camp activities and the major components of a successful camp for engineering disciplines. The Camp Overview: Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), a Hispanic Serving Institution located in an under-served region with 65% Hispanic population, h...
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