Engaging Early Engineering Students (EEES)

Undergraduate STEM student enrollment has declined substantially over the last decade. Specifically there has been a steady decline in retention of early engineering students working through the first half of their degree programs. Student “leavers” typically fall into two categories (i) those facing academic difficulties and (ii) those that perceive the education environment of early engineering as hostile and not engaging. The Engaging Early Engineering Students Project (EEES) is a collaborative effort between Michigan State University (MSU) and Lansing Community College (LCC). EEES functions through the integration of four component programs designed to ease the transition of high school students into engineering undergraduate programs, and, by making the transition smoother, to increase retention at the College of Engineering (COE). The programs are: (a) Peer-Assisted Learning, (b) Connector Faculty, (c) Diagnostic-driven Early Intervention and (d) Cross Course linkages.