Design of a Scholarship Program for Optimal Impact

Dr. Harris is director of the Alabama Power Academic Excellence Program, an academic support program to assist in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented engineering students at Auburn University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Management from Alverno College, a Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University, and a PhD in Educational Psychology from Auburn University. Her research focused on comparing the variables that predict the retention of Black pre-engineering students and White pre-engineering students engineering students at a majority university. Dr. Harris directs all program activities in the Academic Excellence Program including recruitment, retention, fundraising, funding through grants and proposals, budget preparation, and student counseling. She oversees the Minority Engineering Program’s Living Learning Community, a 3-week summer residential engineering camp, collaborative learning groups, interactive learning labs, Sunday Evening Tutorial sessions and the Academic Excellence Professional Development Workshops. She also instructs a Special Topics in Engineering Success Strategy Course for freshman engineering students.