An Evaluation Of A New Engineering Residential College Initiative

With support from the National Science Foundation, the College of Engineering (COE) at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) has implemented an Engineering Residential College (ERC), which consists of a series of academic and non-academic programs targeting firstand second-year retention rates. The academic programs include engineering student designated (ESD) sections of core curriculum courses and revisions to the math curriculum. The non-academic programs include requiring firstand second-year engineering students to live in Engineering Student Designated (ESD) residence halls and providing Peer Mentor and Peer Tutor Programs. The project focuses on freshman and sophomore students because the retention rate in the COE historically has been lowest during the first two years (i.e., 64% and 70%, respectively for data from 1997 to 2004). Components of the ERC were evaluated using a mixed-methods approach including forced-choice, Likert-type, and open-ended survey items and focus groups. Overall, the freshman student retention increased after the first year of implementation of the ERC by 7% over historical retention rates. This study found quantitative and qualitative evidence for the effectiveness of the ESD residence halls, Peer Mentor Program, Peer Tutor Program, and the ESD residence hall courses. However, evidence suggests that the revisions to the math curriculum did not contribute to improved student retention.