At a time when enrollments are up and classrooms are filled to capacity, the College of Engineering is still working to attract students. They want not only the best students, but also a student population that better reflects the nation’s diverse population.

Underrepresented groups in engineering include African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics, and women of all ethnic groups. The college’s Minority Engineering Program (MEP), formalized in 1973, was developed to increase the retention of students from these groups in the College of Engineering. Through MEP, students find academic support services and activities, financial assistance, scholarships, work experience, and community. One mark of success is that minority students in other science- and math-based programs at the University of Illinois seek out MEP services.

The MEP approach is broad, encompassing pre-college, college, and graduate students:

• Outreach to spark an interest in science and introduce students to role models begins as early as elementary school with field trips to the annual Engineering Open House and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. In addition, the college’s student societies visit schools for a science and engineering "show and tell."

• The Illinois Minority Pre-college Internship (IMPRINT) program exposes high school students to engineering. Promising students are paired with campus researchers to work on their projects or placed with employers to learn what practicing engineers do. Also, the Summer Research Opportunity Program, a cooperative effort among the Big Ten universities, brings prospective undergraduate students from other universities to campus to work with a professor and learn about graduate study opportunities at the University of Illinois.

• A variety of awards, merit scholarships, fellowships, and programs provide financial support for undergraduate and graduate study. The Support for Under-Represented Groups in Engineering (SURGE) fellowship targets students interested in doctoral degrees in engineering and includes a recruitment component to encourage qualified minority students to consider attending the University of Illinois.

• Once students are on campus, the Engineering College Enrichment Center and a support system of counseling, tutoring, workshops, and activities are available to help them adjust to campus life, succeed academically, and obtain internships and jobs.

• Strong student organizations include the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and Society of Women Engineers.

• Role models and mentors–fellow students, graduate assistants, faculty, and alumni–encourage students and show by example the broad range of possibilities for engineering careers.

Instilling an interest in science and math has always been the first hurdle to enrolling more students from underrepresented groups, said Paul E. Parker, assistant dean and MEP director. In the 1960s, the college joined in a national effort of universities working closely with school systems to help students from underrepresented groups see themselves in science careers.

Early preparation is critical, Parker said, noting that the students from underrepresented groups must meet the same standards required of all students. Parker, along with Jonné Brown, continues to work with schools where promising students might be found, but the MEP focus is mainly on retention: helping engineering students be successful.

"I like to say that we ‘coordinate enrichment,’ which ranges from tutoring to supportive interaction with other students and alumni," Parker said.

The problem of increasing the number of students from underrepresented groups in the College of Engineering is complicated by limited growth in the student population, Parker pointed out. The college undergraduate population is generally capped at about 5,300 students. Fewer than 1,000 of those students are women and fewer than 500 are from underrepresented ethnic minority groups. The graduate student population, maintained at about 2,000 students, has just under 400 women and slightly more than 50 minority members.

"This is a top-ranked engineering school, and we have a certain reputation that discourages women and minority students from applying. That’s one of our biggest hurdles–to help these students understand that they can get accepted and they can succeed.

"It means working to try to find those who meet the entrance requirements imposed on all students, and then trying to keep them in once they get started," he said. "It’s a challenging program, no question, but the rewards are there, and it’s important to look at those rewards when students are struggling and getting discouraged."

Alumni embody those rewards and have been an inspiration to students, he added. These graduates attend meetings, speak at workshops, and are front and center at two important events. At the beginning of each semester, they take students through what Parker calls the Allerton Retreat, but alumni have dubbed SOS–the System of Survival. A series of informal talks and exercises are designed to help students understand the challenges before them and to show by example that it is possible to meet those challenges and succeed. At the end of the year, the alumni join undergraduates at a banquet to recognize those who are succeeding academically.

"The alumni are great," Parker said, "and they’re committed. They’re very generous with their time and their advice to help the undergraduates understand what they should be doing and how to prepare themselves for the future–they mean a lot to me and to this college, and I know the students appreciate them."

Numbers Up, But Challenges Remain

Although reluctant to let numbers represent the complexity of attracting and retaining underrepresented groups, Parker noted that the enrollments of women and minorities have grown over the years. Also, the student profile, which includes ACT scores and other entry measures, are closer to the overall average for all engineering students. Still, major challenges remain.

"We are finding that we’re not getting the percentage of inner city students that we used to," he said. "These students are still coming, but we’d like to see more. We’d also like to see more graduate students and more graduate students who go on to join faculty ranks. We’ve made efforts in schools systems and here on campus, and we’re still not getting the turnaround, so we have to look at other reasons."

Perceptions remain key barriers. One is that the university is in a small-town, rural environment. Once students and faculty are here, they typically find whatever they want–but getting them on campus and in the community to discover that is challenging, Parker said. The more difficult perceptions to address are related to how students see their futures.

"In effect, I don’t think we’ve sold the value of higher education yet–many of these capable students don’t see themselves going on to college, or becoming engineers, much less earning doctorates," he said.

"Without many role models, these students just don’t think of themselves as technically oriented persons, and history tells them that they are not. So it becomes important that we take measures to ensure that they see a place for them-selves here."

As the MEP continues to evolve, Parker would like to see growth of existing programs and more outreach. Larger pre-college programs and more summer activities would bring more students to campus to see the university and more important, envision themselves attending the university.

He would also like to see more faculty members involved in outreach and visible in schools outside their communities–in rural schools talking to young women, in cities talking to ethnic minorities, and at universities talking to graduate students. Native American communities, inner city schools, the Hispanic Serving Institutions, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities remain important targets for outreach.

"Our faculty and former students are our best spokespersons," he said. "When students know a person–know a face–that makes a big difference in how they think about this college."

A particular need of underrepresented groups is to have more master’s-level programs in engineering, Parker said, anticipating that a master’s program would serve as an intermediary step to a doctoral degree.

"Until we can begin to admit and fund these students for master’s programs, the message is that we don’t really want them," he said, "and that just adds to and perpetuates the problem of recruiting students from underrepresented groups. This is one of our biggest barriers."

Additional challenges for the MEP staff are to expand on successes to date. One area is academic services in the new Engineering College Enrichment Center on the first floor of Engineering Hall, where students find computers, learning modules, tutoring, and other support services. Another area is summer research programs, which could accommodate more students and research faculty. A third area is increased alumni involvement in activities with student organizations, a request made by alumni.

"We are so very fortunate in our alumni," Parker said. "They are the true measure of our success. As this program has grown, we’ve seen some very fine graduates. But we have to do more. The overarching challenge is to get more students in the undergraduate program, more students in graduate school, and more graduates into the faculty ranks."