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

该项目的目标是开发一种可持续和可复制的产业界-学术界合作模式，帮助有才华但经济困难的学生及时完成学士学位并成功进入劳动力大军。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，可以显著改善所有学生-包括女性、少数族裔和残疾人-的留住、安置和劳动力吞吐量。30名合格的、有积极性的工程学和计算机科学初级学生作为一个队列参加了这个为期两年的项目。该计划的亮点包括在三年级和四年级之间进行暑期工业或研究实习。其他专业发展活动旨在增强学生队伍的“准备”，包括行业导师、跟踪计划、参与专业团体，以及每学期为本项目专门设立的一个学分一小时的专业发展研讨会。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开发和执行。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种学习环境，在这种环境中，学生感到有权为自己的成功承担责任。这些活动包括在每个项目年开始时举行的特别情况介绍会议、专业发展讲习班中的合作学习活动、与同伴导师的互动、个人咨询和咨询、小组间和小组内的交流以及辅导。社交网络、指导和社交互动是其特色。每年2500美元的奖学金使学生能够专注于他们的学习和发展活动。该项目的研究目标集中在五个涉及国家利益和重要性的问题上，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。*妇女、少数群体和残疾人在这一劳动大军中的代表性不足。*为学生在进入这一劳动大军后作出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学生数量不断增加。正在系统地评估和报告该项目在解决这些问题方面的成功。对工程教育具有特殊意义的是正在获得的关于高年级和社区学院转学学生表现的数据，这些群体在以前关于留校生和学业表现的研究中基本上被忽视了。

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.