平均而言，超过80%的土木和机械工程专业的学生一边工作一边上学。 While that doesn’t seem so odd given the ever-increasing cost of higher education, trying to work and make ends meet can often stifle academic excellence.
A team of faculty from the Schools of Computing and Engineering, 文理学院, and 教育学院, led by Darran Cairns, Ph.D., 计算机与工程学院 director of program operations, recently received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to break this cycle and increase bachelor’s-degree completion rates among engineering transfer students.
Through a new program partnership with Metropolitan Community College, transfer students studying civil and mechanical engineering can follow an enrollment pathway into the 计算机与工程学院 and — rather than having to worry about a full-time job — receive a stipend to cover their expenses while working on undergraduate research and gaining more experience in their field of study.
The team, which includes Michelle Maher, Ph.D., chair of educational leadership, policy and foundations at the 教育学院 and Jacob Marszalek, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and research fellow in the 威尼斯人娱乐城 Urban Education 研究 Center, worked collaboratively to design a program that would have maximum impact for the students it aims to serve – primarily students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“We wanted to develop a holistic approach to create a culture of openness, curiosity and collaboration,” Cairns said.
“Transfer students have a harder time fitting in because they're not freshmen and they also didn't come in with their peers, so they don't always feel empowered to get involved and lead.”
这个新项目将通过帮助学生腾出更多时间参与校园生活，并为他们提供同伴和专业指导，帮助他们顺利毕业并进入职场，来改变这种说法。
“We’re paying students to get richer experiences.”
在100万美元的拨款中，大部分将用于学生奖学金，并为学生提供机会，进行以改善城市基础设施为重点的研究。 该团队正在与堪萨斯城和当地公司合作，以确定适合居住的城市项目，从人行道维修到设计凉爽人行道的材料，再到城市农业。
“Our goals for this project are to increase the number of transfers from MCC and also track their journey – what gets them to come and what gets them to stay,” Marszalek said.
The program will start in the fall with 24 students – eight first-year Metropolitan Community College students, eight second-year MCC students and eight first-year 威尼斯人娱乐城 transfer students.
该项目还将影响堪萨斯城的公立学校，在布洛赫家族基金会的支持下，计算与工程学院最近在手工职业与技术中心为高中三年级和四年级学生开设了一个数学学院。 The center is using growth-mindset models to help students develop their abilities to persist with challenging math classes and overcome widely held preconceptions about who can and who can’t do well in math. 来自堪萨斯城公立学校的高年级学生将有资格在2020年秋季成为该项目第一批学生的一部分。
“This program essentially creates a support that travels with students from public school to college graduation,” Cairns said. “We also want them to be able to pay it forward and become peer mentors.”
作为该计划的一部分，土木与机械工程系将开发新课程并修改现有课程，以最大限度地对学生产生影响。
该计划还有助于使工程领域多样化。 As students get closer to graduation, they’ll be encouraged to apply for National Science Foundation fellowships that will help pay for graduate school as the NSF wants to see more students from underrepresented groups obtain graduate engineering degrees.
“This grant speaks to the needs of Kansas City and the mission of 威尼斯人娱乐城 to go above and beyond for our students,” Maher said.
该团队还与大都会社区学院（Metropolitan Community College）的工程总监合作，以确定可供考虑的学生。 有关如何申请的细节仍有待公布。