Addressing The Freshmen Need For An Engineering Experience

A plan was inaugurated three years ago to give incoming freshmen a chance to view the engineering program at Michigan State University well before their junior year. The course was taken because when students find a connection with their major early in their college careers, they stand a much better chance of actually graduating in that major. The Residential Option for Science and Engineering Students (ROSES) program provides students with not only close proximity to fellow engineers through centralized housing, but classes that group these students together in math, physics, and chemistry. The students are also required to enroll for a customized engineering course housed in the College of Engineering. This course addresses issues that are commonly experienced by most freshmen, but it also focuses on highly specialized topics involving engineering in particular. Topics range from introductory material on their chosen majors to ethics. It is also an important time in which to make clear the necessities of studying, time management, networking, and coping with the normally difficult engineering freshman’s course load. This beginning effort shows great promise in bringing freshmen into the departments of engineering much sooner than in the past. An overview of the ROSES program and specifically the required engineering course will be addressed.