Evaluating A University/Community College Collaboration For Encouragement Of Engineering And Computer Science Transfer Students

Community colleges (CCs) are a strategic source for more engineering and computer science students in the United States. An exploratory program for a university collaboration with three non-metropolitan CCs was funded last year by the National Science Foundation (grant # 0836050) targeting engineering and computer science students. One of the CCs is a Hispanic-serving institution and since, in general, women and underrepresented minority students are over represented in the CCs compared with four-year institutions, collaborations with these CCs also have the potential of increasing engineering diversity. A brief history of the collaboration is given and the various phases of the collaboration described. These phases include communication (each CC is some distance from the university), a joint high school outreach effort, encouraging CC students, assisting with the transfer process, and supporting transfer students at the university. The retention of upper-division transfer women students in engineering and computer science at Arizona State University will be examined. A focal point of this paper will be the evaluation of an innovative retention program for upper-division transfer students. These students enroll in a one-hour credit Academic Success class which is also attended by scholarship students, both transfer and non-transfer students. Transfer students who were not eligible for the scholarship can receive a $300 scholarship by attending the six meetings of the class and doing the assignments. The assignments are designed to help the students succeed academically and to encourage them to go on to graduate school after they graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering or computer science. The $300 scholarship program has been offered for three semesters to 20 students. This paper will focus on the experiences of the women students in the program through a survey. In general, all of the students rate the program as excellent or very good and helpful to their academic life. The scholarship amount was judged to be “about right”.