Campus news and events

News Releases

Contact: Jason Marton
jason.marton@tamuk.edu or 361-593-4143

Step program wants more science, engineering and math students

KINGSVILLE (November 10, 2005) — Funding began October 1 for a major student recruitment and retention program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Titled TAMUK STEP: A Model for Student Success and Persistence, the five-year project was awarded a grant worth $999,996 from the National Science Foundation, under the NSF’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP).

This proposal was jointly developed by science and engineering faculty at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Del Mar College and the staff from the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), t he engineering research agency of the State of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System. The fiscal agent for this project will be TEES.

The STEP vision is to provide access to science, engineering and mathematics (SEM) degrees for the predominantly Hispanic population of the South Texas region served by A&M-Kingsville and to increase the availability of a trained workforce for the state.

Objectives of the program are to increase the number of community college SEM transfers; enhance student success; and improve persistence to degree completion for the predominantly first generation and Hispanic student of South Texas.

The TAMUK STEP project will be led by a team that includes Dr. Kuruvilla John, associate professor of environmental engineering and associate dean of the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering; Dr. Ali Pilehvari, professor and chair of natural gas & chemical engineering; Dr. Hector Estrada, associate professor and chair of civil and architectural engineering; Dr. Daniel J. Suson, professor and chair of physics/geosciences; and Dr. Blanca “Rosie” Garcia, interim vice president for instruction at Del Mar College.

According to the grant proposal, the number of Hispanics earning bachelor’s degrees in engineering in 2002-2003 remained flat from the years 1999-2002, while the U.S. Hispanic population rose to 13 percent. In addition, Hispanic students have been shown to be less likely than any other group to leave their home region for education or careers, putting Hispanic Serving Institutions like A&M-Kingsville in a strong position to meet educational needs. With research showing that first generation and underrepresented students are predisposed to begin their higher education at community colleges, TAMUK STEP will partner with five regional community colleges like Del Mar to keep students moving ahead to degree completion in SEM disciplines. It is anticipated that the TAMUK STEP program will impact 1,200 students over five years, with more than 55 percent of those students to be Hispanic.

Principal investigator John said that the project will attempt to accomplish several key objectives through innovative approaches such as the establishment of peer advisors program at community colleges; initiation of faculty learning groups to develop recruitment and retention strategies; enhancement of a foundational course at the freshmen level; and provide research experiences at the undergraduate and community college levels. Additionally, SEM student chapters along with engineering professionals will be used in this project to mentor TAMUK STEP students.

Dr. William Heenan, dean of the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering, said of TAMUK STEP, “This is a great program that will increase the number of engineers, scientists, and technologists coming from South Texas."

Sheryl Custer, executive assistant to the dean of engineering, offered more details on TAMUK STEP and the positive effect it will have on engineering recruiting efforts.

“ There are several components of this grant, but one in particular will enable us to provide stipends for A&M-Kingsville students who serve as recruiters to go into community colleges (CC) and act as liaisons. What better recruiters could we have than for our own students to get out and advertise our university?”

“We will also be able to hire student leaders at the target community college to mentor prospective students. These students will be more advanced in their studies and will be able to help guide the new CC freshmen who will soon be making the transition from a community college to a four-year college.”

She notes that another change going on in conjunction with TAMUK STEP is a redesigning of the introductory course in engineering, that will allow freshmen students to get a taste of all the disciplines and more hands-on lab and research experience; in the past, students received their research experience in their senior year.

“As a member of the staff community, I try to look through the eyes of the potential student and ask myself – ‘What would it take to convince me that this is a quality school and how do I know that I will get a quality education at Texas A&M-Kingsville?’” said Custer.

“The answer will be from someone who has been there—from a student mentor. Our faculty and staff will be able to teach these mentors everything they need to know about the university so that they will have the technical information they need to answer any questions that potential students may have, but it is the students themselves that will make the difference. The STEP grant gives us the ability to make this happen.”

This page last updated 11 November, 2005