Exploratory Project: Graduating ENgineers In the U.S. (GENIUS) Summer Program

这一探索性的努力将通过实施天才夏季计划，解决增加准备进入工程和计算机科学大学课程的非洲裔美国高中毕业生数量的挑战。为期一个月的夏令营的目标是位于华盛顿大都会地区的高中正在上升的三年级学生。该计划将为学生在大学STEM课程中取得学术成功做好准备，并为学生及其家人提供有关大学申请过程的更多见解。GENIUS计划将解决两个关键问题，这些问题会影响学生申请，录取和毕业于认可的STEM课程的比例。技术创业中的创新和新兴思想在多大程度上能激励学生接受工程？在多大程度上接触大学人员和文化影响学生？对上大学的看法？随着美国人口变得更加多样化，少数族裔人口将成为技术劳动力的一个越来越大的部分，招聘和保留率必须得到改善。美国社会不断变化的人口结构使得必须为即将毕业的非洲裔美国工程师制定有效的战略，这一群体在数学和科学方面传统上落后于国内和国际同行。GENIUS计划通过制定一项针对主要由非洲裔美国人组成的学校的高中三年级学生的计划来解决这个问题，这些学校的毕业率低，标准化考试成绩低于平均水平。该计划将汇集现有的大学服务和战略大学合作伙伴关系的支持。

This exploratory effort will address the challenge of increasing the number of African-American high school graduates prepared to matriculate in engineering and computer science university programs, by implementing the GENIUS Summer program. The month-long summer camp targets rising juniors in high schools located in the DC metropolitan area. The program will prepare students for academic success in university-based STEM programs and provide students and their families with additional insight on the college application process. The GENIUS program will address two critical inquiries that impact the rate of students applying to, matriculating in, and graduating from accredited STEM programs. To what extent can innovative and emerging ideas in technical entrepreneurship motivate students to embrace engineering? To what extent does exposure to university personnel and culture impact students? views of attending college? As the US population becomes more diverse, the minority population will become an increasing segment of the technology workforce and recruitment and retention rates must be improved.The changing demographics of the American society make it imperative to develop effective strategies for graduating African-American engineers, a group that traditionally underperforms its national and international peers in math and science. The GENIUS Program addresses this issue by developing a program targeting rising high school juniors at schools that are predominately African-American and struggle with low graduation rates and lower than average performance on standardized exams. The program will marshal existing university services and strategic University partnerships for support.