Collaborative Research: CMN PEEC Project: Providing for the Education of American Indian Engineers

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College of Menominee Nation (CMN), together with the University of Wisconsin Madison and the University of Wisconsin Platteville, is applying to the National Science Foundations Science, Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) Pre-engineering Education Collaborative grant to strengthen CMN?s capacity to establish CMN as an Associate Degree granting engineering program of distinction. . The CMN PEEC: Providing for the Education of American Indian Engineers collaborative project proposes the following objectives:  To build CMN?s capacity and infrastructure to sustain a Pre-engineering Associate Degree Program.  To implement a Pre-engineering program of distinction.  By September 2015, to graduate at least twenty students from CMN?s pre-engineering program and transition into U.W. Madison?s and U.W. Platteville?s engineering programs. Project Intellectual Merit: This project recognizes and embraces diversity and the role Tribal Colleges play in coordinating demonstrative research on increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. Tribal Colleges are key contributors to the body of knowledge on American Indians. Project research, data, and outcomes focused in the ultimate outcomes of increasing the number of and performance of American Indian students in engineering, leading to increased numbers of American Indians in engineering careers, will provide key nationally recognized research. This collaboration will develop, apply and assess evidence-based practices shown to increase the participation of underrepresented minority students in science and engineering. Furthermore, the partnership between CMN and its UW partners is tailored to establish robust connections between institutions that will serve as a model for the engineering community in general and other minority-serving institutions as we assess, document and disseminate the success of this process. Project Broader Impact: This project will build upon the research of previous STEM activities, continuing the investigation of essential research in discovering and understanding how Tribal Colleges and the unique strategies they implement promote education in minority students. The project further advances the research of American Indian undergraduate education in engineering and contributes to the global body of knowledge in underrepresented minority engineering education. The short term outcome of this effort will be to increase the knowledge, understanding and interest in engineering among students in rural populations, with emphasis on the American Indian population of Northern Wisconsin. The long term outcome will be an increase in the participation of American Indian students graduating with degrees in engineering. This will ensure that the voices, perspectives and talents of a population that is so underrepresented in engineering have an opportunity to contribute to the development of the engineering profession.