A Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarship Program: Building Upon an Industry-Academia Foundation

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The "Next Generation of Manufacturing Engineers for the Automotive Sector" project provides scholarships for students interested in all aspects of manufacturing for the automotive sector. All College of Engineering programs, as well as computer science and mathematics benefit from the project. The project strengthens existing alliances and resources, as well as partnerships with community colleges and industry sponsors throughout the Mid-South region.The intellectual merit of the project is to supplement existing resources within the University to facilitate a life-altering, environmental change for financially disadvantaged, upper-division undergraduate CSEM students with academic potential. Scholarships are provided supplemented with summer industry or research internships between the junior and senior years. CSEMS students become an integral part of the academic culture and take more advantage of tutoring, peer mentoring, career development, research, student collaboration, as well as other academic and personal advantages gained by being fully engaged in the University community.The broader impact of the project is achieved via the following objectives, each with specific, measurable outcomes, which are analyzed to continually improve the program: i) to decrease the financial debt of CSEM graduates via scholarships and counseling, ii) to decrease the number of CSEM students working in non-intellectually engaging jobs by increasing opportunities for students to work on a faculty member's funded research or through approved co-op or summer internships with industry partners of the project, iii) to improve employment placement in highly sought-after positions via the institution's relationship with industry partners who support seamless transition of internships into full-time positions, iv) to increase the graduation rate of CSEM students, particularly minority and female students, v) to decrease the average time to degree completion for CSEM students and, vi) to increase the number of CSEM graduates who enroll in graduate school.These objectives are achieved through a unique combination of student environment modifications, one-on-one counseling and tutoring services, scholarships, retention and intervention, professional development and research activities, and industrial collaborations while leveraging and not replacing existing resources. The project strives to maintain the underrepresented participation from our baseline CSEMS awards, which consisted of 52% minorities and 40% females. A committee of faculty, staff and industry partners from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Federal Express Corporation (FedEx), The Solae Company, Wright Medical Technology, Inc., and the Army Corps of Engineers will select and mentor the recipients.