Work in progress - outreach and retention in the University of Utah Engineering programs

For several decades, college student retention research has focused on the importance of engaging college students in their higher education environment as a tool for helping them attain their degrees. Student Affairs administrators across the United States have incorporated the idea of engagement in their programs and services to increase student retention. This work in progress paper describes how the College of Engineering at the University of Utah has incorporated the concept of engagement into its retention efforts in response to a shortage of engineers in the state. Engagement efforts in this National Science Foundation funded project include participation in outreach teams, facilitating a summer innovation summit, participating in learning community courses, and implementing service learning. The paper focuses on unique elements of the program, incorporating qualitative evaluation data from the first year of the project to describe how lessons learned have shaped second year efforts.