Success of Joint Programs Between Junior and Senior Colleges

Margaret Krudysz; Ardie D. Walser; Annita Alting

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Retention and Two-year to Four-year Transfer
Tagged Division: Two Year College Division
Page Count: 17
Page Numbers: 25.1207.1 - 25.1207.17
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21964
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/21964
Download Count: 365

Request a correction

Ardie D. Walser is a professor of electrical engineering and the Associate Dean of the Grove School of Engineering at the City College of New York of the City University of New York. Walser is a former Division Chair of the Minorities in Engineering Division (MIND) of the American Association of Engineering Education (ASEE). He has collaborated in the creation and implementation of numerous faculty development workshops that have been held throughout the country. Walser has given many workshops and lecture demonstrations at grades schools, high schools, universities, and community centers, introducing young people to engineering and science.

visit author page

biography

Annita Alting City College of the City University of New York

visit author page

Annita Alting is Director of Academic Effectiveness and IR at the City College of New York in the Grove School of Engineering. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Eindhoven on a research study into improving the participation of female high school students in physics. She holds a master's degree in physics from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She taught physics and mathematics in Dutch secondary schools and colleges and mathematics as an adjunct at Pace University. She performed curriculum evaluation and academic and educational advising at Delft University of Technology and large scale educational research at Twente University. Before coming to City College, she was a Research Associate in IBM research, performing organizational, and usability studies.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Success of Joint Programs between Junior and Senior CollegesAbstractWhile the demand for highly skilled engineers is greatly increasing, minorities and women arenot well represented in the engineering workforce due to inadequate secondary schoolpreparation, the absence of academic support at many institutions, lack of academically intensivesummer programs, and financial constraints, among others. Community colleges address manyof the complex issues surrounding the under-representation of women and minorities inengineering by offering low tuition and a regular schedule of the remedial courses, as well as anarray of support services such as tutoring, supplemental instruction, and mentoring.The Joint/Dual (JD) programs, created in 2004, between junior and senior colleges of the CityUniversity of New York (CUNY) offer increased educational opportunities for underrepresentedminorities in science and engineering fields who might otherwise be denied access to highereducation. These programs are designed to provide students from junior colleges with the samecurriculum as the first two years of an ABET-accredited engineering program at a senior college.Students entering the programs are granted dual admission to the community college as well asthe senior college. Upon successful completion of the lower division courses and degreerequirements for an Associate in Science (AS) degree in Engineering Science at a communitycollege, students seamlessly transition to the upper division of the baccalaureate engineeringprogram (Civil, Electrical, Chemical, or Mechanical Engineering Science) at a senior college.Although the JD programs facilitate students’ transition from community colleges to theprofessional portion of the engineering curricula, there are many challenges associated with theprograms’ success. This paper discusses the challenges and possible approaches to addressingchallenges in early registration processes, transfer course evaluations, tracking and advisement,maintaining curriculum alignment, and retention of students who transfer from junior to seniorcolleges. Students’ performance at their community college is compared to their overallperformance once they reach higher division courses at the senior college. Trends in GPAs,number of credits taken, and probation status are used as metrics to evaluate the overallperformance of students in the JD program. Preliminary results show that, on average, students’GPAs at a senior college are lower than their junior college GPAs. After an initial dip inperformance in the second semester at the senior college, students’ performance improves in thesubsequent semesters, indicating that students may need additional support services during thisadjustment period. Other analysis involve comparing performance and retention rates of studentsin the JD program to transfer students from the same community colleges who did not completetheir AS degrees. The overall success of the JD program is evaluated.

Citation
Format

Krudysz, M., & Walser, A. D., & Alting, A. (2012, June), Success of Joint Programs Between Junior and Senior Colleges Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21964

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -            Success of Joint Programs between Junior and Senior CollegesAbstractWhile the demand for highly skilled engineers is greatly increasing, minorities and women arenot well represented in the engineering workforce due to inadequate secondary schoolpreparation, the absence of academic support at many institutions, lack of academically intensivesummer programs, and financial constraints, among others. Community colleges address manyof the complex issues surrounding the under-representation of women and minorities inengineering by offering low tuition and a regular schedule of the remedial courses, as well as anarray of support services such as tutoring, supplemental instruction, and mentoring.The Joint/Dual (JD) programs, created in 2004, between junior and senior colleges of the CityUniversity of New York (CUNY) offer increased educational opportunities for underrepresentedminorities in science and engineering fields who might otherwise be denied access to highereducation. These programs are designed to provide students from junior colleges with the samecurriculum as the first two years of an ABET-accredited engineering program at a senior college.Students entering the programs are granted dual admission to the community college as well asthe senior college. Upon successful completion of the lower division courses and degreerequirements for an Associate in Science (AS) degree in Engineering Science at a communitycollege, students seamlessly transition to the upper division of the baccalaureate engineeringprogram (Civil, Electrical, Chemical, or Mechanical Engineering Science) at a senior college.Although the JD programs facilitate students’ transition from community colleges to theprofessional portion of the engineering curricula, there are many challenges associated with theprograms’ success. This paper discusses the challenges and possible approaches to addressingchallenges in early registration processes, transfer course evaluations, tracking and advisement,maintaining curriculum alignment, and retention of students who transfer from junior to seniorcolleges. Students’ performance at their community college is compared to their overallperformance once they reach higher division courses at the senior college. Trends in GPAs,number of credits taken, and probation status are used as metrics to evaluate the overallperformance of students in the JD program. Preliminary results show that, on average, students’GPAs at a senior college are lower than their junior college GPAs. After an initial dip inperformance in the second semester at the senior college, students’ performance improves in thesubsequent semesters, indicating that students may need additional support services during thisadjustment period. Other analysis involve comparing performance and retention rates of studentsin the JD program to transfer students from the same community colleges who did not completetheir AS degrees. The overall success of the JD program is evaluated.
AU  - Margaret Krudysz
AU  - Ardie D. Walser
AU  - Annita Alting
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Success of Joint Programs Between Junior and Senior Colleges
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/21964
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21964
ER  -