An Industry-Academia Partnership Model for Improved Retention, Accelerated Degree Completion, and Successful Placement of Women/Minorities/Other Financially Disadvantaged Students

该项目的目标是建立一个可持续的、可复制的产学研合作模式，帮助有才能但经济困难的学生及时完成学士学位，并成功进入劳动力市场。其目的是证明，通过奖学金、专业发展活动、干预和学术支持的独特组合，所有学生（包括女性、少数民族和残疾人）都可以在保留、安置和劳动力吞吐量方面取得显著改善。30名工程和计算机科学专业的大三学生将作为一个队列小组参加这个为期两年的项目。项目亮点包括在大三和大四之间的暑期行业或研究实习。其他旨在提高学生劳动力“准备”的专业发展活动包括行业导师，影子计划，参与专业协会，以及为本项目特别创建的每学期一学分的专业发展研讨会。一个由工业界成员组成的项目咨询委员会正在指导项目的发展和执行。他们的任务之一是确保行业参与为学生提供真正的智力参与。学术支持活动的中心是创造一个学习环境，让学生感到有能力为自己的成功负责。在每个项目年度开始时举行的特别介绍会，专业发展研讨会中的合作学习活动，与同伴导师的互动，个人咨询和建议，小组间和小组内的交流以及辅导都是其中的活动。网络，指导和社会互动的特点。每年2 500美元的奖学金使学生能够集中精力学习和发展活动。该项目的研究目标集中在国家利益和重要性的五个问题上，所有这些问题都与人力资源开发有关：*未来的工程和计算机科学劳动力。*女性、少数民族和残疾人在劳动力中的代表性不足。*为学生在进入劳动力市场时做出富有成效的贡献做好准备。*学生获得学位所需的时间越来越长。*工程和计算机科学学士学位课程的转学生数量不断增加。正在系统地评价和报告该项目在解决这些问题方面的成功情况。对工程教育具有特殊意义的数据是关于高年级和社区大学转校生的表现，这些群体在以前的留校率和学业表现研究中很大程度上被忽视了。

The goal of this project is to develop a sustainable and replicable industry-academia partnership model for helping talented but financially disadvantaged students complete their baccalaureate degrees in timely fashion and move successfully into the workforce. The intent is to demonstrate that significant improvement in retention, placement, and workforce throughput can be achieved for all students - including women, minorities, and persons with disabilities - through a unique combination of scholarships, professional development activities, intervention, and academic support.Thirty qualified motivated junior-level students in engineering and computer science are participating in the two-year program as a cohort group. Program highlights include a summer industry or research internship between the junior and senior years of study. Other professional development activities designed to enhance student workforce "readiness" include industry mentors, shadowing programs, involvement in professional societies, and a one credit-hour Professional Development Workshop each semester created especially for this project. A Project Advisory Committee, with members from industry, is guiding development and execution of the project. One of their tasks is to assure that industry involvement provides real intellectual engagement with students. Academic support activities center on creation of a learning environment in which students feel empowered to take responsibility for their own success. Special orientation sessions held at the beginning of each project year, cooperative learning activities in the Professional Development Workshops, interactions with peer mentors, personal counseling and advising, inter- and intra - group communication, and tutoring are among the activities. Networking, mentoring, and social interactions are featured. Scholarships of $2,500 per year are enabling students to concentrate upon their studies and development activities. Research objectives for the project focus upon five issues of national interest and importance, all associated with human resource development:* The future engineering and computer science workforce. *Under-representation of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in this workforce. *Preparation of students for productive contributions upon entry into this workforce. *The increasing length of time required for students to earn degrees. *Increasing numbers of transfer students in engineering and computer science baccalaureate programs. Success of the project in addressing these issues is being systematically evaluated and reported. Of special significance to engineering education are the data that is being obtained on performance of upper division and community college transfer students, groups largely overlooked in previous studies of retention and academic performance.