Improving ECE Retention and Recruiting Via Program Innovation and Partnership

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Improving ECE Retention and Recruiting Via
Program Innovation and Partnership

• Yaobin Chen, Ph.D.
• Professor and Chairman
• Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Purdue School of Engineering Technology, IUPUI
• ychen_at_iupui.edu

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Outline of Presentation

• Background
• Identifying issues, challenges and opportunities
  in retention and recruiting via SWOT analysis
• Freshman recruiting and retention
• Curriculum reform and revision learner-centered
  curriculum
• Undergraduate research and scholarship programs
• Building strong partnership

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Background Information10-Year Enrollment Data at
IUPUI (ECE VS ME)
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Issues, Challenges and Opportunities (SWOT
Analysis)

• Issues in recruiting and retention
• Less prepared high school graduates
• Congested and difficult curriculum
• Low freshman engineering retention (about 50)
• Perception on EE not visualizable, too abstract,
  too much math
• Perception on CmpE confused with IT/CS,
  outsourcing
• Low enrollment in minority and woman students
• Challenges
• Reverse the trend of declining enrollment
• Improve freshman retention
• Opportunities
• Strategic planning exercise sustainable
  retention and recruiting plan
• Curriculum reform and innovation
• Partnership

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Freshman Recruiting and Retention

• Direct admit qualified high school graduates
• Conditional admit successful completion of
  remedial course work at University College
• Transfer students from other engineering
  programs
• Common freshman engineering program
• Common curriculum with more hands-on projects in
  freshman year
• Well structured advising program
• Involving freshman engineering students in senior
  design teams
• Peer to peer mentoring by leveraging student
  organizations (IEEE)
• Close cooperation with Math and science depts to
  improve learning
• Tutoring by upper classmen and graduate students

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Curriculum Reform and Innovation-
Learner-centered program

• Regular review of courses by faculty and
  industrial advisers
• Structured honors program (new)
• Degree option with required internship/co-op
• Combined/dual-degree programs
• 5-year dual-degree engineering program with
  Butler University (since 1999)
• 5-year international engineering program in
  collaboration with the World Languages and
  Cultures Dept (BSEE-BA in a foreign language,
  German, French, Spanish, etc)
• Dual BSEE/BS in physics
• 5-year BS/MS in ECE

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Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

• Undergraduate research programs (campus-wide)
• MURI multidisciplinary undergraduate research
  institute
• McNair scholar program for first generation
  college students
• UROP Undergraduate research opportunity program
• Commitment to Excellence Fund for minority and
  woman in engineering
• Scholarships
• Research grant
• University scholarship programs
• Bepko scholar
• Hoosier presidential scholar
• Hoosier connection scholarship for engineering
  international students
• Retention via learning community building (Purdue
  House, Honors House, etc)

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Partnership

• K-12 partnership
• Project-lead the way high school curriculum
• MEAP Minority Engineering Advancement Program
• K-12 math/science teacher training
• K-12 magnet schools in engineering IPS
• Articulation with other higher education
  institutions
• Ivy Tech Community College pre-engineering
  program
• Other HBUCs
• Dual-degree programs with other colleges
• Industry partnership
• Industrial mentoring program (IAB)
• Internship/co-op
• Industrial participation in senior design
  projects
• International partnership and cooperation

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THANK YOU!