Military Veterans Engineering Education Initiative Planning Grant

宾夕法尼亚州立大学高等教育研究中心将评估现有数据，并确定是否需要更多的设计方案，以缓解退伍军人向工程学科的过渡。研究结果将有助于高等教育机构满足退伍军人返回或首次进入大学的独特需求。智力优点：新的蒙哥马利退伍军人法案为后9/11退伍军人预计将带来一个前军事人员涌入国家的大学校园。这些退伍军人中的许多人将带来技术技能和专业知识，以及在这些领域继续接受教育的兴趣。拟议中的规划拨款将列出一些大学校园已经开发的为退伍军人服务的项目的例子。它还将评估从军事和其他来源获得的数据，以协助开展招募和服务退伍军人的工作。该项目还将建议设计适当的评估方法，为这样的计划，以服务退伍军人谁学习工程。更广泛的影响：虽然这项计划拨款的主要重点是数据和退伍军人计划的评估，但结果将对其他非传统学生群体产生影响。大多数退伍军人回到大学的特点是完全不同于传统的学生直接从高中过渡到中学后教育。成年学生回到大学完成第一个学位，或第一次入学，分享许多退伍军人的特点。许多人有配偶或伴侣，也有受抚养的孩子，在上大学时还要兼顾家庭责任。所有人都把在劳动力中学到的技能和才能带到了校园，并正在寻找建立在现有专业知识基础上的方法。

The Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University will assess data available and identify if more is needed to design programs to ease the transition of military veterans into engineering disciplines. The results will help postsecondary institutions meet the unique needs of military veterans returning to or enrolling in college for the first time. Intellectual merit: The new Montgomery GI Bill for post-9/11 veterans is expected to bring an influx of former military personnel to the nation's college campuses. Many of these veterans will bring technical skills and expertise, and an interest in continuing their education in those fields. The proposed planning grant will catalog examples of programs already developed on some college campuses to serve veterans. It will also assess the data that are available from military and other sources to assist in implementing efforts to recruit and serve veterans. The project will also suggest designs for appropriate evaluation methodology for such program to serve veterans who study engineering. Broader impacts: While the primary focus of this planning grant is on data and evaluation of programs for veterans, the results will have implications for other populations of non-traditional students. Most military veterans returning to college have characteristics that are quite different from traditional students transitioning directly from high school to postsecondary education. Adult students returning to college to complete a first degree, or enrolling for the first time, share many of the characteristics of military veterans. Many have spouses or partners as well as dependent children, and juggle family responsibilities while enrolled in college. All bring with them to the campus skills and talents learned in the labor force, and are looking for ways to build on that existing expertise.