College success skills for engineers

The authors describe a two-semester-hour course, College Success Skills for Engineers, taught in the School of Engineering at Western New England College. The overall objectives of this course are to assist freshman engineering students in developing their academic skills, introduce them to the practice of engineering, and help them become a part of the campus community (have a sense of belonging). The course has two main parts: the first part encompasses academic skills, life management skills, and an introduction to the resources of the college. The second part, referred to as engineering encounters, introduces the student to the practice of engineering. Although the course was offered for the first time in the fall of 1989, the attrition for engineering students entering in the fall of 1989 was 19.5%, which was a significant improvement over the 31.8% for those who entered in 1988