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The Greater Equity, Access, and Readiness for Engineering and Technology (GEARSET) Program, an NSF funded S-STEM program was developed GEARSET to address several institutional needs at the university. The original target population for the GEARSET program was identified as a subset of the students who applied to the College of Engineering and do not meet all the admissions requirements and are admitted to an Exploratory Studies major in the university’s University College. Historical data indicates that approximately 170 students per year with a high school GPA of 3.00 or higher are admitted to Exploratory Studies because they do not meet the College of Engineering admissions criteria. Of these, roughly 78 students remain at the University after one year. Of those 78, only about 45 students per year transition to college of Engineering majors by the end of their first year. These numbers do not accurately reflect the ability of these students, but rather are due in part to curricular bottlenecks, lack of institutional support, and lack of significant relevant exposure of students to material meant to engage their engineering future selves. This data motivated the creation of the GEARSET program. Specifically, the program was designed to 1. Increase recruitment, retention, student success, and transfer rates into engineering of students who are not admitted directly to engineering but who are instead admitted to the university’s University College. 2. Increase meaningfulness and engineering relevance of pre-engineering curriculum. 3. Increase diversity within the student population of various engineering departments in the College of Engineering. 4. Remove bottlenecks in curriculum and improve access to engineering and decrease length to degree. A key aspect of the program is a curated curriculum. All students in the GEARSET program are enrolled in multiple courses historically proven to promote better understanding of the key areas of Math, Chemistry and Physics needed to be successful engineers. All students have access to advisors within the COE to help them better understand the programs, curriculum and professional outcomes of each discipline of Engineering. Another key component of the program is that low income students in the GEARSET cohort who successfully transfer to a major within the COE after one year receive scholarship support. Here we describe the Program, the results to date, and the impact of the recent global pandemic and the subsequent transition to test optional admissions criteria on the definition of the GEARSET cohort, program implementation, and student participation.
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Work in Progress: Institutional Context and the Implementation of the Redshirt in Engineering Model at Six Universities
Low-income students are underrepresented in engineering and are more likely to struggle in engineering programs. Such students may be academically talented and perform well in high school, but may have relatively weak academic preparation for college compared to students who attended better-resourced schools. Four-year engineering and computer science curricula are designed for students who are calculus-ready, but many students who are eager to become engineers or computer scientists need additional time and support to succeed. The NSF-funded Redshirt in Engineering Consortium was formed in 2016 as a collaborative effort to build on the success of three existing “academic redshirt” programs and expand the model to three new schools. The Consortium takes its name from the practice of redshirting in college athletics, with the idea of providing an extra year and support to promising engineering students from low-income backgrounds. The goal of the program is to enhance the students’ ability to successfully graduate with engineering or computer science degrees. This Work in Progress paper describes the redshirt programs at each of the six Consortium institutions, providing a variety of models for how an extra preparatory year or other intensive academic preparatory programs can be accommodated. This paper will pay particular attention to the ways that institutional context shapes the implementation of the redshirt model. For instance, what do the redshirt admissions and selection processes look like at schools with direct-to-college admissions versus schools with post-general education admissions? What substantive elements of the first-year curriculum are consistent across the consortium? Where variation in curriculum occurs, what are the institutional factors that produce this variation? How does the redshirt program fit with other pre-existing academic support services on campus, and what impact does this have on the redshirt program’s areas of focus? Program elements covered include first-year curricula, pre-matriculation summer programs, academic advising and support services, admissions and selection processes, and financial aid. Ongoing assessment efforts and research designed to investigate how the various redshirt models influence faculty and student experiences will be described.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1564681
- PAR ID:
- 10068251
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASEE annual conference & exposition proceedings
- ISSN:
- 2153-5868
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The NSF-funded Redshirt in Engineering Consortium was formed in 2016 with the goal of enhancing the ability of academically talented but underprepared students coming from low-income backgrounds to successfully graduate with engineering degrees. The Consortium takes its name from the practice of redshirting in college athletics, with the idea of providing an extra year and support to help promising engineering students complete a bachelor’s degree. The Consortium builds on the success of three existing “academic redshirt” programs and expands the model to three new schools. The Existing Redshirt Institutions (ERIs) help mentor and train the new Student Success Partners (SSP), and SSPs contribute their unique expertise to help ERIs improve existing redshirt programs. The redshirt model is comprised of seven main programmatic components aimed at improving the engagement, retention, and graduation of students underrepresented in engineering. These components include: “intrusive” academic advising and support services, an intensive first-year academic curriculum, community-building (including pre-matriculation summer programs), career awareness and vision, faculty mentorship, NSF S-STEM scholarships, and second-year support. Successful implementation of these activities is intended to produce two main long-term outcomes: a six-year graduation rate of 60%-75% for redshirt students, and increased rates of enrollment and graduation of Pell-eligible, URM, and women students in engineering at participating universities. In the first year of the grant (AY 16-17), SSPs developed their own redshirt programs, hired and trained staff, and got their programs off the ground. ERIs implemented faculty mentorship programs and expanded support to redshirt students into their sophomore year. In the second year (AY 17-18), redshirt programs were expanded at the ERIs while SSPs welcomed their first cohorts of redshirt students. This Work in Progress paper describes the redshirt programs at each of the six Consortium institutions, identifying distinctions between them in addition to highlighting common elements. First-year assessment results are presented for the ERIs based on student surveys, performance, and retention outcomes. Ongoing research into faculty experiences is investigating how participation as mentors for redshirt students changes faculty mindsets and instructional practices. Ongoing research into student experiences is investigating how the varied curricula, advising, and cohort models used across the six institutions influence student retention and sense of identity as engineering students.more » « less
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The NSF-funded Redshirt in Engineering Consortium was formed in 2016 with the goal of enhancing the ability of academically talented but underprepared students coming from low-income backgrounds to successfully graduate with engineering degrees. The Consortium takes its name from the practice of redshirting in college athletics, with the idea of providing an extra year and support to help promising engineering students complete a bachelor’s degree. The Consortium builds on the success of three existing “academic redshirt” programs and expands the model to three new schools. The Existing Redshirt Institutions (ERIs) help mentor and train the new Student Success Partners (SSP), and SSPs contribute their unique expertise to help ERIs improve existing redshirt programs. This Work in Progress paper describes the history of the Redshirt in Engineering Consortium; the Redshirt model as a framework for addressing issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering; and initial lessons learned from the implementation of the model across unique institutional contexts.more » « less
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The financial disadvantage of many students in the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology (ECST) at California State University, Los Angeles, is often in parallel with inadequate academic preparation through K-12 education and limited family guidance. Hence, many students, including those who are academically-talented, experience significant challenges in achieving their academic goals. In 2018, the College of ECST received an award from NSF SSTEM program to establish a Culturally Adaptive Pathway to Success (CAPS) program that aims to build an inclusive pathway to accelerate the graduation for academically talented, lowincome students in Engineering and Computer Science majors. CAPS focuses on progressively developing students’ social and career competence via three integrated interventions: (1) Mentor+, relationally informed advising that encourages students to see their academic work in relation to their families and communities; (2) peer cohorts, providing social support structure for students and enhancing their sense of belongings in engineering and computer science classrooms and beyond; and (3) professional development with difference-education, illuminating the hidden curricula that may disadvantage first-generation and low income students. This paper presents our progress and core program activities during the first year of the CAPS program, including the recruitment process and mentor training program. In Fall 18, group and individual mentoring sessions have taken place following the culturally responsive mentoring strategy. In addition to program activities, the paper will also share the data collected through focus groups and report the lessons learned during the first-year implementation phase.more » « less
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