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With the growing demand for engineers, there is a need to recruit high-achieving economically disadvantaged school students who may not consider attending a 4-year university and to facilitate their success. Our SSTEM (NSF 22-527) Award# 2221623 award looks to identify and recruit high-achieving low-income students who show an interest in the advanced manufacturing industry and facilitate academic success using Tonso’s socialization theory of engineering identity development. We have also found that a foundational common first year seminar course combined with peer mentoring has become powerful tools in helping to enhance engineering identity. Our recruitment strategy is to engage and recruit through local high school teachers. To assess high achievement, emphasis was placed on the teacher’s recommendations. This successful recruitment model was expanded with additional schools and teachers, which has resulted in a higher number of strong candidates for future cohorts. SSTEM students meet initially in a common first-year program and continued to meet regularly on and off campus. Students had connections with industry partners in the spring 2024, with all students engaged in co-ops over the summer. After the first year, Cohort 1 students (n=6) had 100% retention, compared to a college first-year retention average of 64.8%, with an average cumulative GPA of 3.57 compared with the college average GPA of 2.76. Through group activities, Cohort 1 students have developed into a cohesive group. Cohort 1 students were included as part of the interviews and final selection of Cohort 2 and provided valuable input. Participation in the Cohort 2 selection process improved Cohort engagement with the SSTEM program activities. Cohort 2 selected Cohort 1 students to peer mentor. These connections proved important in forming a connection to the SSTEM program and reinforcing their engineering identities. The limited data from the spring survey of Cohort 1’s perception of their SSTEM experience shows that the cohort feels a connection to their careers, and while they have an understanding of future difficulties, they have confidence that they will persist. The key findings from our initial evaluation of the SSTEM program are that involving high school teachers in the selection process has been critical for the recruiting of appropriate candidates. In addition, involving the current SSTEM scholars in the selection process of future cohorts has helped to develop a strong sense of connection between students which has enforced their peer-mentoring relationships. We anticipate that this will help to enhance their connections to the SSTEM program, engineering identity, and retention. 

This work-in-progress paper focuses on a redesigned first-year experience (FYE) program at [University Name], aimed at increasing student success and retention. While the retention of undergraduate engineering students is essential for addressing the global demand for qualified engineers, first-year retention rates remain a significant challenge. This paper will explore how the redesigned program addresses this challenge. Initially, a project-based Engineering 101 course was revamped in 2016 but showed limited improvement in retention rates, stabilizing around the mid-60% range. In 2021, the program was further restructured into a comprehensive, multi-semester experience named the "[School Mascot] Design Experience," expanding its scope to include students of all majors. The redesigned program integrates the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) Entrepreneurial Mindset framework, emphasizing curiosity, connections, and creating value [1], with Stanford d.school’s Design Thinking model [2]. This approach engages first-year students through multidisciplinary teamwork, peer mentorship, and professional competency workshops, aiming to nurture both academic success and lifelong learning skills. Preliminary results reveal promising trends, with retention rates increasing to 77% in the academic year 2022-2023, representing a significant improvement over prior iterations and exceeding the college’s average by 6% and the university’s average by 5%. This study further explores the correlation between program components and their influence on retention and examines the following research questions: RQ1: How much has this redesigned FYE increased student retention? RQ2: Are students who continue to the spring semester retained at a higher rate? RQ3: To what extent does participation in the redesigned program increase students’ self-reported dimensions of curiosity? RQ4: How does the curiosity level compare between retained students and those not retained?