Domestic Student Recruiting Strategies Jim Sherwood Associate Dean for Graduate Studies University of Massachusetts Lowell The Chicago Conference for Associate Deans of Research at Small and Mid-Sized Engineering Schools University of Illinois, Chicago 11-12 October 2016 Learning with Purpose
Outline NE Grad Student Recruiting Mini-Symposium ASEE support ENGINE Database Faculty Baseball Cards Part-time doctoral students in Industry
Mini-Symposium Objectives Promote the awareness of academic research activities in the NE region Provide a venue for Faculty to recruit high-quality domestic graduate students Students to explore graduate school opportunities in the Northeast Expand faculty networks
Schedule of Events 12:00-1:00 PM Registration & Lunch 1:00-2:00 PM Tour of the Tufts Campus 2:00-4:00 PM Speed Talks 4:00-5:00 PM Poster Session College Recruiting Fair Wine & Cheese Reception
Speed Talks Upload PowerPoint file in advance of the minisymposium date (3 days?) Schedule rooms by disciplines Organize talks for quickly moving among presenters Each faculty member is given 3 minutes to present The intent of the speed-talk is to develop interest Follow up questions and discussion during poster session Please respect time of other faculty presenting Yellow flag indicates 30 seconds left Red flag indicates time is over
2015 Invited Engineering Schools
2015 Invited NE Engineering Schools Boston University The Citadel (South Carolina) Cornell University Fairfield University Fitchburg State University Maine Maritime Academy Massachusetts Maritime Academy Merrimack College MIT Northeastern University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Smith College Suffolk University Syracuse University Tufts University University of Bridgeport University of Connecticut University of Hartford University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Massachusetts Dartmouth University of Massachusetts Lowell University of Maine University of New Hampshire University of New Haven University of Rhode Island University of Vermont Wentworth Institute of Technology Western New England University Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Goals for 2016 Mini-Symposium Increase the number of Northeast Universities participating Grow our attendance of both students & faculty 25% growth from 2014 (100) to 2015 (125) Target of 100% growth from 2015 to 2016 (250+) Start planning for Fall 2016 during Spring 2016 Express your interest to be on the planning committee! Secure a centrally located school to host in Fall 2016 (Tufts U.)
ASEE Support 70 schools are in the ASEE NE Region Added a Grad Recruiting Fair to the ASEE NE Region Conference in April 2016 ASEE NE Secretary is using the mailing list to spread the word ASEE NE Region Conference NE Grad Stduent Recruiting Mini-Symposium
ENGINE Contact Sharing List Engineering National Graduate Institutional Name Exchange: https://engine.eng.ufl.edu/ Vehicle for students to learn about national graduate opportunities institutions to reach out to high-quality students (target demographics) Students voluntarily participate 2015 ~12,000 2016 ~15,000 No cost to participate
2015 ENGINE Participating Institutions Arizona State University Auburn University Boise State University Boston University Case Western Reserve University Clemson University Columbia University Cornell University Duke University George Mason University Iowa State University Jackson State University Kettering University Lehigh University Louisiana State University Michigan State University Michigan Technological University Mississippi State University New Jersey Institute of Technology Northeastern University Northern Arizona University Ohio State University Pennsylvania State University Purdue University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Southern Methodist University Syracuse University Texas A&M University University of Alabama University of Alabama, Birmingham University of Arizona University of Arkansas University of California, Irvine University of California, Merced University of California, Riverside University of Dayton University of Florida University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign University of Kansas University of Kentucky University of Maryland University of Massachusetts, Lowell University of Michigan University of Mississippi University of Pittsburgh University of Rochester University of South Alabama University of South Carolina University of Tennessee University of Texas at Arlington University of Texas at El Paso University of Virginia University of Washington Vanderbilt University Washington State University West Virginia University
2015 ENGINE Student Demographics 56 institutions 11,621 engineering students (includes 500 UML students) 10,079 domestic students (U.S. Citizens, PResidents) 5354 graduating seniors; 6228 juniors or beyond 3327 women; 2913 of which are domestic 1474 underrepresented minority students Distribution of GPAs 3819 with GPA 3.75 to 4.00 2990 with GPA 3.50 to 3.74 2431 with GPA 3.25 to 3.49 2050 with GPA 3.00 to 3.24 323 with GPA < 3.00
2017 ENGINE Timeline Institution sign-up May-June 2017 Collect student information May-August 2017 Download student information August/September 2017 Propose to develop a parallel database within the Northeast that will include Students Deans Faculty Graduate Admissions Offices/Officers Send an email expressing your interest to ADGradCoE@uml.edu
UML Student Data Collection FERPA-compliant, secure online agreement form Pre-populated student information into secure Adobe Echosign form Form required signature & an indication of interest in various degree options Automatic reminders were sent 2x monthly Notification options were available for when students signed form Students could turn off reminders only by rejecting or signing agreement Signed PDF forms & Excel reports with all student data accessible via Adobe Cloud account Results were a success! Contacted 900+ UML students with GPA > 3.00 Had over 500 positive responses For more info, contact mikenaz@eng.ufl.edu
Faculty Baseball Cards Single PowerPoint slide Clean and Concise information of each professor in the College Excellent method for sharing information with prospective industry collaborators
Part-time Doctoral Students MOTIVATION Many companies Have engineers that are interested in pursuing a PhD, but do not have the luxury to return to school full-time Need PhDs, but these researchers must be U.S. citizens
CONCEPT Part-time Doctoral Students Company allows employee To conduct research at work To spend one day a week on campus Faculty advisor Spends one day every two weeks at the company Facilitates industry-academia collaboration Ensures faculty stays engaged with the part-time student Receives a stipend of $5K/year
NEXT STEPS Part-time Doctoral Students Develop proposal for NSF Looking for partnering institutions