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  1. The benefits of mentorship are widely acknowledged in the literature, specifically for students from under-represented groups in technical fields of study. The authors propose a triangulation methodology for mentorship that can be adopted in engineering programmes by leveraging peer mentorship and vertical integration in a project-based learning environment. Results from a pilot programme are presented to comprehend the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Results are evaluated quantitatively by evaluating student performance and student responses. Qualitative results are evaluated through data collected from student interviews. Results indicate that the mentorship programme outlined in this article has been highly beneficial to the cohort observed in this study. In addition to academic achievements, it is observed that students in the programme engaged in undergraduate research and actively participated in engineering student clubs since they understood the benefits of such participation for their future pursuits. Students in the pilot programme strongly acknowledge the benefits of triangulated mentorship. 
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  2. This paper describes the structure, project initiatives, and early results of the NSF S-STEM funded SPIRIT: Scholarship Program Initiative via Recruitment, Innovation, and Transformation program at Western Carolina University (WCU). SPIRIT is a scholarship program focused on building an interdisciplinary engineering learning community involved in extensive peer and faculty mentoring, vertically-integrated Project Based Learning (PBL), and undergraduate research experiences. The program has provided twenty-six scholarships and academic resources to a diverse group of engineering and engineering technology students. Results from several project initiatives have been promising. Recruitment efforts have resulted in a demographically diverse group of participants whose retention rates within the program have held at 82%. A vibrant learning community has organically developed where participants are provided both academic and non-academic support across several majors and grade classes. Since May 2014, SPIRIT undergraduate research projects have resulted in forty-five presentations at seven different undergraduate and professional conferences. Twenty-seven PBL and five integrated open-ended design challenges have been completed, involving several corporate sponsors and encompassing a wide-range of engineering topics. Results from a ninety-question participant survey revealed several perceived program strengths and areas of possible improvement. Overall, the participants agreed or strongly agreed that the program had been a positive experience (4.0/4.0) and had helped them to prepare for a career in engineering (3.8/4.0). Undergraduate research activities conducted through the program have helped the participants to understand the steps involved in research processes (3.8/4.0), to appreciate the need for a combination of analysis and hands-on skills (4.0/4.0), and to become more resilient toward academic challenges and obstacles (3.8/4.0). The program’s learning community helped participants build relationships with other students outside of their major (3.1/4.0) as compared to normal course communities. Several participants believed that they were more comfortable with seeking advice from upper class students within the program (3.7/4.0) as compared to upper class students outside the program (2.7/4.0). Vertically-integrated PBL activities helped participants in understanding project management techniques (3.8/4.0), teaming techniques (3.7/4.0), and to assume a leadership role on projects (3.6/4.0). Indicated areas of program improvement included the desire and need for a system of peer-review for the students’ undergraduate research papers; a perceived hindrance to benefit from “journaling” about their program experiences (3.6/4.0); and a need for continued strengthening of activities associated with graduate school application processes as well as preparations for job interviews and applications. This paper presents details of the program initiatives, a compilation of survey results with necessary discussion, and areas of possible improvement going forward. 
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  3. This research is motivated by the need for students’ early exposure to work readiness skills that promote effectiveness in dealing with complex open-ended technical problems as may be encountered in senior capstone projects or professional practice. This paper presents preliminary work in the use of building Rube Goldberg machines as student projects to foster some of these skills. Design of Rube Goldberg machines may be employed in a number of settings as a vehicle for teaching basic engineering skills. These designs require students to creatively consider a variety of unconventional approaches to solve simple problems. The Rube Goldberg paradigm allows students to communicate and to advance their ideas in a low-pressure environment where brainstorming is highly valued and where prior technical expertise affords no specific advantage. As such, projects based on Rube Goldberg machines are an effective way for freshmen and sophomore students, who may lack extensive technical skills, to acquire greater proficiency in some of the non-technical skills. This research gives results from a pilot study in project management using the Rube Goldberg model. The goal of this study is to determine the perceived efficacy of a proposed teaching vehicle for project management concepts that could strengthen the early stages of an existing series of Project Based Learning (PBL) oriented undergraduate engineering courses at the host institution, which currently make use of more closed-ended and single-solution design projects. In the study, a cohort of 27 engineering and engineering technology students participated in a sequence of extracurricular sessions in which they undertook progressively challenging open-ended project assignments. Each project introduced new constraints that required the students to address additional aspects of project management. Results from an end-of-year survey show that the participants had strongly positive impressions of their experiences related to these exercises. A majority of students felt that they had enhanced skills that would be valuable in professional life (96%), improved their leadership skills (92%), and had gained appreciation for the value of project planning (100%) and technical documentation (96%). It is anticipated that lessons learned from the project sequence will provide the framework for cross-disciplinary freshman and sophomore assignments in host institution’s PBL curriculum in the future. 
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  4. Undergraduate research has emerged as a high-impact approach that can be used to enhance student engagement and to enrich student learning experiences. It is observed in the literature that undergraduate research can have an impact on student retention, and possibly attract women and ethnic minorities to science-related disciplines while playing an important role in the determination of career paths for participating students. While there are multiple studies on the impact of undergraduate research in social sciences and sciences, there is limited literature in the engineering disciplines. The limited volume of literature may be attributed to multiple reasons such as a significant emphasis on mathematics and science in the first two years of engineering curriculum, a strict sequential degree path, and a lack of flexibility in the program requirements. Engineering students often report difficulty in relating the theoretical content of the first few semesters to actual engineering applications. This study proposes the introduction of undergraduate research as a possible means of overcoming these student perceptions by introducing students to well-defined research projects at an early stage of their undergraduate degree program. The primary focus of this study is to understand student perceptions about the efficacy of undergraduate research in the engineering and engineering technology disciplines. Survey results from twenty six students involved in undergraduate research as part of the requirements for a scholarship program are presented and evaluated. Subjective evaluations from a few faculty members involved in mentoring some of these undergraduate researchers are also discussed. Although both students and faculty mentors agree that undergraduate research can be a highly valuable experience, it is commonly acknowledged that there are quite a few factors that are crucial in making the experience meaningful. 
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  5. A travel course takes a significant amount of effort in its planning and execution. The logistics are even more challenging when a travel course is introduced for the first time. In the Engineering and Technology department at Western Carolina University (WCU), a faculty-led travel course has never been taught. The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) offered an inaugural grant opportunity, especially for a travel course in STEM. In response to that, a proposal was submitted after discussions among colleagues and administrators. Although the grant proposal was not funded, the CIEE offered a large discount for the program and the CIEE program manager worked tirelessly to accommodate the requests to revise the program. When the initial abstract of this paper was submitted in January 2016, nine student applications had been received, for travel in May 2016. Unfortunately, the class was cancelled after two students withdrew reducing the numbers below the required enrollment and budget limits. However, throughout the development of this course, many successful partnerships were fostered. The collaborating parties included: students, departmental colleagues, administration (the Department Head, Dean, and Associate Dean), the International Service Office, colleagues in other departments, the CIEE Program Manager, WCU’s Development Officer, and a private donor. It is no small feat for a travel course to be jump-started from scratch, and partnerships are the key for successful implementation. Although our travel course was unsuccessful at meeting the final objective, we gained valuable knowledge from the process. The current paper addresses several factors in establishing a new travel course, such as assessing a fair number of credit hours for a relatively short duration, developing an appropriate budget, and incorporating project-based learning into a short time table. Furthermore, the current paper shares some guidelines that may be helpful in establishing a new travel course, such as using survey tools to understand student needs, making infographics to advertise the course, and encouraging the students to talk to their friends and classmates about the course. These tools have been effective but need to be used carefully to avoid misleading the intended audience. The many lessons that have been learned during the development of this course will also be shared in this paper. 
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  6. Anxiety stemming from the challenges faced by engineering students could be used as a predictor of academic performance. Such anxiety may lead to compromised student self-efficacy manifesting itself as reduced motivation, concentration, or reasoning capability. These symptoms often lead to a loss of confidence in engineering abilities and reduced commitment to engineering degree programs, resulting in lower retention. Various studies have been conducted to analyze the direct effects of both academic and non-academic sources of anxiety in engineering programs such as curriculum requirements, academic readiness (e.g. study skills), personality type, and attitudes toward learning as a means of improving future pedagogical strategies and mitigation of physiological aspects of anxiety. Less common are studies that investigate the efficacy of timely interventions in response to self-reported vulnerabilities and concerns of engineering students. This paper presents data from practical efforts to identify and mitigate anxiety among engineering students. A group of twenty-seven engineering and engineering technology students, who were part of a scholarship program, was asked to submit journal entries in which they reflected on their fears and anxieties related to their participation in their degree program. Prominent themes which emerged from student reflection included time management and its effects on academics and social activities, the likelihood of degree completion and success in engineering-specific coursework (e.g. senior capstone projects), and aspects of life following graduation such as handling accumulated debt and finding a job. As a cohort, the students participated in periodic vertically-integrated discussion groups with faculty mentors and their peers at multiple levels of seniority, and were introduced to university resources designed to address specific student needs. Results of a follow-on survey suggested that peer-to-peer discussions can be useful in alleviating anxiety on particular topics. It was also observed that the interactions facilitated by these group discussions are helpful in developing a sense of community and shared enthusiasm among the cohort. 
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  7. The NSF S-STEM funded SPIRIT: Scholarship Program Initiative via Recruitment, Innovation, and Transformation program at Western Carolina University creates a new approach to the recruitment, retention, education, and placement of academically talented and financially needy engineering and engineering technology students. Twenty-seven new and continuing students were recruited into interdisciplinary cohorts that are being nurtured and developed in a community characterized by extensive peer and faculty mentoring, vertically integrated Project Based Learning (PBL), and undergraduate research experiences. The SPIRIT Scholar program attracted a diverse group of Engineering and Engineering Technology students, thus increasing the percentage of female and minority student participation as compared to the host department program demographics. Over the last academic year, fifty-four undergraduate research projects/activities were conducted by the twenty-seven scholars under the direction of twelve faculty fellows. Additionally, peer-to-peer mentorship and student leadership were developed through the program’s vertically integrated PBL model, which incorporated four courses and seven small-group design projects. Academic and professional support for the student scholars were administered through collaborations with several offices at the host institution, including an industry-engaged product development center. The program participants reported strong benefits from engaging in the program activities during the first year. Specifically, this paper presents results from the program activities, including: cohort recruitment and demographics; support services; undergraduate research; vertically integrated PBL activities; and the external review of the program. Similar programs may benefit from the findings and the external review report, which contained several accolades as well as suggestions for potential continuous improvement. 
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  8. This paper discusses feasible means of integrating mentorship programs into engineering and engineering technology curricula. The two main motivations for investigating the development of such programs are to improve retention rates and to augment the efforts toward increasing the enrollment of minority students. In fact, it can be argued that a mentorship program can also indirectly assist in the achievement of critical student outcomes for accreditation. The model of mentorship presented in this paper involves a vertical integration of cohorts through a series of project-based learning (PBL) courses. Furthermore, this attempt is enhanced by the introduction of incentives that encourage student involvement in undergraduate research as well as on-campus engineering organizations. The specific focus of the mentorship is on student-student relationships in addition to the conventional faculty-student relationships. These relationships allow students to learn from each other since they are able to strongly relate to each other’s experiences among their peer group. The mentoring model proposed in this paper formulates a learning community that allows the student to form a support group and a mechanism for preventive intervention, as discussed in other studies on mentoring programs. Such student engagement is commonly acknowledged to significantly benefit the students as well as the student mentors involved in the program. Data from an initial student survey that measures the efficacy of the proposed mentorship program is included in this paper and these data are discussed in detail. A 1-5 Likert scale is used for quantitative analysis of the data in order to evaluate the self-efficacy of the program. The group size of the mentorship cohort has been limited to a maximum of thirty students at this stage. Preliminary analysis of the data indicates that the participating students have a strongly positive opinion of the program. 
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  9. The National Science Foundation’s funded ($625,179) SPIRIT: Scholarship Program Initiative via Recruitment, Innovation, and Transformation at Western Carolina University creates a new approach to the recruitment, retention, education, and placement of academically talented and financially needy engineering and engineering technology students. Twenty-Seven new and continuing students were recruited into horizontally and vertically integrated cohorts that will be nurtured and developed in a Project Based Learning (PBL) community characterized by extensive faculty mentoring, fundamental and applied undergraduate research, hands-on design projects, and industry engagement. Our horizontal integration method creates sub-cohorts with same-year students from different disciplines (electrical, mechanical, etc.) to work in an environment that reflects how engineers work in the real world. Our vertical integration method enables sub-cohorts from different years to work together on different stages of projects in a PBL setting. The objectives of the SPIRIT program will ensure an interdisciplinary environment that enhances technical competency through learning outcomes that seek to improve critical skills such as intentional learning, problem solving, teamwork, management, interpersonal communications, and leadership. Support for the student scholars participating in this program incorporates several existing support services offered by the host institution and school, including a university product development center. This paper will discuss several aspects of the program including participant selection and initial cohort demographics; implementation of the vertical-based cohort model in PBL; program and student assessment models; and associated student activities and artifact collection used to foster student success in the program and after graduation. Successful implementation of the SPIRIT program will create a replicable model that will broadly impact 21st century engineering education and workforce preparedness. 
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