Providing A More Complete Preparation For Engineering Students In A Minority Hispanic Institution

It is necessary to help preserve standards of quality in our society through education to maintain safety and integrity. The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is the second largest Hispanic institution in the United States. Over 67% of its approximate 15,000 students are underrepresented minorities and an estimated two-thirds are the first in their families to attend college. Because of the necessity to work to finance their college education, more than 70% of the students believe that it will take them six years to complete the bachelor degree. In this paper, the authors initially present and discuss data on educational trends in Hispanic society. Then, the authors present the University’s Model Institution for Excellence (MIE) system, which has increased student retention rates in the science and engineering disciplines. The authors then propose to extend the Accreditation Board for Engineers and Technology outcome assessment process adopted by the University and the present MIE activities to include interaction with the K-12 community and UTEP faculty and administrators, in addition to UTEP students and their families. With these efforts, the authors believe that students will obtain a more complete preparation for the demands required by industry and graduate schools. I. Educational Trends in Hispanic Society During the 1998-2008 period, employment in Science and Engineering (S&E) occupations is expected to increase at almost four times the rate. Within engineering, electrical engineering is projected to have the biggest absolute and relative employment gains up by 26%. Civil and mechanical engineers are also expected to experience above average employment gains, with projected increases of about 21% and 16%, respectively. Employment for all engineering occupations is expected to increase by an average of approximately 20% . The trend of increasing enrollment in undergraduate programs by underrepresented minorities (including black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native students) has persisted for more than a decade and continued in the 1990s. Black enrollment increased 3% annually from 1990 to 1996. In the same period, Hispanic enrollment in higher education increased at an even faster rate