According to the committee, the study produced more questions than answers. They want to know more about the effects of culture and campus support services on the retention of engineering students, whether students can effectively learn online and what competency standards students should meet after graduating from community college. The committee also questioned whether math courses should emphasize engineering more and how to persuade faculty and administrators (as well as government policymakers) to enhance the role of community colleges as gateways to an engineering education.
But before the committee goes any further, it needs money. The committee had hoped to publish the report a year ago, but the review process and lack of funds for printing hampered the process, says Dr. Mary C. Mattis, senior program officer for the National Academy of Engineering’s Diversity Program.
Mattis says NAE hopes it can print as many as 250 hard copies of the report. “We’d like to understand more about the perspectives of four-year schools because they are in the dominant position in this relationship,” she says. “We tried to focus on the exemplary partnerships. We wanted to know about the barriers and motivations of four-year schools to get them more involved in the transfer process.”
Electronic copies of the report are available for sale at <http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11438.htm>
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