Kettering University has been selected as one of 10 engineering schools in the United States to participate in the first cohort of ENGAGE - Engaging Students in Engineering through Instruction and Mentoring. ENGAGE is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research on Gender in Science and Engineering.

Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed, Dr. Yaomin Dong and Dr. David Benson, all of the Mechanical Engineering Department, join Betsy Homsher, interim associate provost for Student Affairs, on Kettering’s ENGAGE team.

Susan Staffin Metz of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., is the principal investigator of ENGAGE.  She said many more engineering schools applied than could be accommodated to the program. “We are delighted to let you know that Kettering has been selected,” she said.

Homsher said ENGAGE will help Kettering strengthen its inclusive learning communities on campus.  “This represents a rich opportunity for Kettering to develop a plan and provide professional development to faculty and staff to improve instruction in engineering and related gateway STEM courses,” she added.

Kettering’s ENGAGE team has been invited to attend the ENGAGE Strategy Implementation Workshop Feb. 23-25 in Alexandria, VA. 

Over the next three years, ENGAGE will work with 30 engineering colleges (10 per year) to provide training, materials, and technical assistance to improve instruction in engineering and faculty-student mentoring skills, using research-based strategies to enhance the retention of engineering students, particularly women of all races and ethnicities. Stevens Institute of Technology is the grantee organization and the lead partners are Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN) and Campbell-Kibler Associates, Inc. (C-KA).

Here is more information on ENGAGE:
Using a train-the-trainer model, the project will bring together a team of nationally recognized project consultants who will work with three-to-five person university-based teams. University team members, assisted by project consultants, will work with faculty on their campuses to introduce new knowledge and practices.  University teams will be drawn from two groups:

• Teaching and learning center professionals, associate deans, and others who provide local professional development to faculty who teach first and second year engineering courses and STEM gateway courses (required math and/or science courses that engineering students take)
• Women in engineering and minority engineering program directors, and others responsible for retention of students from underrepresented groups

Professional development will focus on three research-based strategies that enhance retention of engineering students, particularly women.

• Use of relevant and engaging applications in courses
• Use of activities to improve student spatial visualization skills
• Building faculty knowledge and skill to mentor students.

University team members will provide professional development in these three strategies to faculty who teach first and second year engineering and STEM gateway courses. University team members and faculty on their campuses will have access to a series of supports including:

• Expert technical assistance--virtual and on-campus
• Mini-grants of $10,000 to universities to implement project objectives
• Online ENGAGE Handbook
• Webinars
• Virtual Learning Community
• WEPAN Knowledge Center

Project Outcomes:

• All 30 participating universities will conduct training in the three research-based strategies.
• All 30 participating universities will integrate relevant applications in their courses.
• At least 95 percent of the participating universities will integrate spatial visualization skills into their curriculum.
• More than 50 percent of the faculty in 1st and 2nd year engineering courses and STEM Gateway courses will participate in mentor training.
• More than 50 percent of the faculty in 1st and 2nd year engineering courses and STEM Gateway courses will integrate relevant applications in their courses.

Written by Patricia Mroczek and ENGAGE sources
(810) 762-9533
pmroczek@kettering.edu