The Blurring of Academic, Cultural, and Social Borders for Minority Engineering Students

Abstract

In 2003 Arizona State University received a fiveyear block grant from the National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering (NACME).The funding provides scholarships of up to $2,500 for underrepresented students with financial need. Qualified non-minority students have been included in the program during the past two years and are supported by other funding. The new freshmen NACME students are required to take a two-hour course in the fall and meet every other week for an hour during the spring semester. In subsequent semesters, the NACME scholars meet for an hour six times a semester. This paper will report on lessons learned during the three years of the program, on programming improvements (including an academic emphasis), and on the challenges of the program. The paper will also include the students' retention, GPAs, and evaluations of the program. To date, over 60 students have participated in the program. This program helps to blur the academic, cultural, and social borders that minority engineering students often face.

A Three Year Evaluation Of A Nacme Program

“…A Check List for the Detailed Time Management Schedule was developed and reported, as well as the assignments that support the 4.0 Plan. 10,11 II. The NACME Program…”

“…Much analysis and evaluation data have been reported. 5,6,10,11,12 We now given general evaluations of the first three years. Since retention is a major goal of the NACME program, the retention/graduation rates are given in Table 1 for the first three years of cohorts.…”

Academic Achievement And Retention In A Minority Engineering Program

“…During the first freshmen semester, the NACME students are required to enroll in a two-hour Academic Success class. This class has been detailed in other papers [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and includes the 4.0 Plan system for learning 16 ; a textbook on survival in engineering 17 ; video tapes 18 ; representatives from Career Services and an engineering student research program, individual student presentations; a visit by officers of AISES, NSBE, SHPE, and SWE; and a group project with report and presentations. During the second freshmen semester, the NACME students meet for an hour eight times during the semester.…”