Session F3D
A TWO-SEMESTER FRESHMAN ORIENTATION COURSE SEQUENCE FOR
RETAINING UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN ENGINEERING
Tony L. Mitchell1 & Alisa Hunt-Lowery2
Abstract − At NC State University, we have developed a
student success model that is contributing towards our goal
of increasing diversity as it relates to the engineering and
computer science professions. We know we are on the right
track because our NC State University College of
Engineering has been honored twice in the short, four-year
history of a national mentoring awards program. In 2000,
we received our second Presidential Award for Excellence
in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. This
work in progress report and accompanying presentation
focus on our two-semester sequence that contains our
freshman-level
Engineering
Professional
Student
Development courses. We describe the demographics of our
student enrollment population, share details of both courses
to include topical coverage, professional guests
participation, and the impact these courses have on minority
engineering and computer science students as they become
acclimated to our campus environment.
M INORITY ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Refereed paper presentations on our student success model
have been made in recent years at annual conferences of the
American Society of Engineering Education, Frontiers in
Education, and the International Conference on Engineering
Education. A typical cycle for the students we target for
recruitment begins during their high school years when they
are invited to participate in the NC State University Student
Introduction to Engineering (SITE) program. SITE is a
weeklong campus resident program designed to expose high
school students to engineering and computer science.
All new minority engineering freshmen arriving in the
fall are enrolled in START, our student mentoring program.
They are also automatically enrolled in E144 - Academic
and Professional Preparation for Engineers I. This course
offers early and intrusive support that promotes student
persistence and academic achievement, while exposing
students to goal setting, decision making and effective
communication techniques.
The fall course also covers academic preparation such as
time management skills, study skills, managing academics
with extracurricular activities, graduate school and
professional opportunities. Another integral part of the fall
1
2
class is the minority career fair. Each year the NC State
University Black Student Board, in conjunction with other
student organizations such as the National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE), sponsors a campus corporate career fair.
This is the premier recruiting fair for the university for the
fall semester. NSBE sponsors an “Afternoon Affair” each
year the day before the career fair so minority students will
have an opportunity to meet industry representatives and
network. For one of the E144 course assignments, students
must attend the Afternoon Affair and the minority career
fair.
In the spring semester, students may choose to enroll in
Academic and Professional Preparation for Engineers II. The
spring semester focuses more on the professional
development of the student, such as preparing for a summer
internship, co-operative education experience, or full-time
employment. The co-operative education program at NC
State is the 2nd largest optional program in the nation.
Seventy percent of the NC State University students who
participate in the co–op program, are engineering or
computer science students. The students also visit the
University Career Center. The Career Center serves as a
placement office for internships, co-op and full-time
positions. The students meet the Career Center counselor
assigned to the College of Engineering, learn about the
interviewing process, and how to put resumes online.
Industry representatives also speak to the spring class to
discuss interviewing skills, goal setting, teamwork,
understanding money, and professional development.
Inviting industry representatives reinforces with the students
the goals and mission of the NC State Minority Engineering
Program: to produce successful minority engineers. The
representatives give the students job search tips, and shares
pointers on evolving as a successful professional and citizen.
Near the end of the course, we establish and conduct “mock”
interviews for the students. This process brings human
resources and technical managers from industry into the
classroom to conduct interviews of the students. This last,
end or course capstone activity brings together most of the
individual discussion topics covered prior to this point in the
course. For example, each student must turn in an updated
resume prior to his or her scheduled mock interview date.
Also, students come to class professionally dressed, just as
they would if the interview was being conducted on location
Tony L. Mitchell, North Carolina State University, College of Engineering, Phone: 919.515.3264, Fax: 919.515.8702, tmitchel@eos.ncsu.edu
Alisa Hunt-Lowery, North Carolina State University, College of Engineering, Phone: 919.515.7032, Fax: 919.515.8702, ahlowery@eos.ncsu.edu
0-7803-6669-7/01/$10.00 © 2001 IEEE
October 10 - 13, 2001 Reno, NV
31 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
F3D-18
Session F3D
at a corporate site. We are currently making alterations to
the fall course to better accommodate START, our freshman
mentoring program. We also are implementing an upperdivision corporate mentor program. This program will pair
minority corporate professionals as mentors to our minority
engineering and computer science junior and seniors.
0-7803-6669-7/01/$10.00 © 2001 IEEE
October 10 - 13, 2001 Reno, NV
31 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
F3D-19