Student Success through Service:
Creating Connections with the Community
Dr. Waded Cruzado
President
Campus Compact Presidents Leadership Summit 2010
October 13, 2010
Montana State University
One University
– 4 campuses
Bozeman
Billings
Great Falls
Havre
- 7 Experimental Agricultural Centers
- 55 Extension County Offices
American Indian Communities
Student Success
74.2%
FTFTFTF, 2009 cohort
47.1%
6-year grad for 2004 cohort
2122
Students in 2010 cohort
(up from 1801 last year)
First Fall Class Size
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
22
23
23
48
29
36
38
43
39
24
Persistence of American Indian First-Time, Full-Time Freshmen
Percent Enrolled Each Subsequent Fall
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
63.6
54.5
40.9
18.2
9.1
9.1
4.5
65.2
52.2
43.5
34.8
8.7
13.0
13.0
52.2
39.1
39.1
21.7
8.7
4.3
13.0
64.6
47.9
43.8
33.3
10.4
8.3
65.5
51.7
51.7
41.4
24.1
44.4
36.1
41.7
27.8
57.9
44.7
44.7
69.8
46.5
76.9
9th
4.5
8.7
10th
0.0
“Designing Our Community”
Program Goals
• Goal 1: Recruitment
– Increase the motivation and pre-entry academic preparation
of Native American students.
• Goal 2: Retention
– Help shape the engineering, engineering technology, and
computer science workforce by increasing the number of
Native American students graduating from the College of
Engineering.
• Goal 3: Professional Development
– Improve access to quality engineering and technology to
rural and underserved populations by returning highly
educated professionals to these communities.
“Designing Our Community”
Seminar Background
• 1-credit seminar
• Building community (same place and time/week)
• Encouraging mentoring
• Highlighting support programs
• Engaging in professional development
Problem: redundancy for upper classmen
“Designing Our Communities”
Seminar Objectives
• Utilize the skills of each team member to deliver a one-of-a-kind
product.
• Refine the ability to communicate, plan, execute, and resolve
conflict in a team.
• Have a better understanding of how engineering/computer
science can meet society’s needs.
• Network with peers, professionals and mentors.
• Evaluate professional/personal strengths and weaknesses.
Why American Indians and
service learning in engineering?
• Service learning
 encourages responsibility
 engages students with their community
 provides leadership development
 promotes further education
• Service learning in engineering
 enhances motivation
 develops meaningful connections with peers, faculty, staff
 broadens citizenship
 fosters design experience, teamwork, communication skills
Service Learning Projects
•
Spring ‘06 - Develop an engineering related activity for 8th grade math
•
Spring ‘07 - Participate as a project team in one of four community
projects
•
Spring ‘08 – Research and write unfunded, undone Indian Health
Service Projects for senior design capstone courses
•
Spring ‘09 – Feasibility study for new reservation high school on
alternative energy investment
•
Spring ‘10 – Boys and Girls club energy and utility assessment on
Northern Cheyenne reservation
Persistence for American Indian students
in service learning
90%
• Persistence: American
80%
Indian students retained in
engineering from Fall to Fall 70%
60%
semester.
• Service Learning (SL):
students successfully
passing a service learning
course.
50%
SL
No SL
40%
30%
20%
• No SL: students not taking 10%
or not passing a SL course. 0%
Fall
2007
Fall
2008
Fall
2009
Engineers Without Borders at MSU
Next steps:
Better tracking of student service
service learning
how these activities impact retention
rates of students in all demographics