Promoting Engagement through Innovative and Pragmatic Programs

摘要

Adapting to a growing student enrollment within any college is difficult, particularly when you are competing against colleges/universities that receive more funding and have an evolving campus climate. As enrollment increases, colleges desire to ensure they are creating a diverse student population and building an inclusive environment within day and evening student populations to ensure they feel a part of the department/school culture. Over the past seven years enrollment has grown by 49% within the engineering programs. The following will provide insight into the structure of current programs and cover results from several initiatives. These programs were introduced to: 1) improve retention of engineering students, and 2) as a result also enhance inclusivity and diversity. Funding for the programs came from several sources including: National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, corporate funds, operational funds, and discretionary funds.