News Release

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May 25, 2005

BOISE STATE RECEIVES GRANT FOR PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT LOWER DIVISION ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING MAJORS
 

Boise State University is the recipient of one of five grants awarded nationally by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) to support innovative programs aimed at addressing the high drop-out rate among electrical engineering students.

Rochester Institute of Technology, University of California-Riverside, North Carolina A&T University and University of the Pacific also received the $20,000 “Stay Tech” grants. Forty-three engineering schools at universities across the nation vied for the awards.

According to the SIA, approximately half of electrical engineering students nationwide drop out before earning bachelor’s degrees, and the attrition rate is even higher among minority students. As a result, concerns are growing that there will be an insufficient number of electrical engineers for industry needs in the years ahead.

“Anything that the semiconductor industry wants to do to help with the competitiveness of the United States, and particularly of Micron here in Boise, in meeting future engineering needs is very welcome,” said Jake Baker, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boise State.

Boise State received funding for a pilot program, “Staying on Course,” that aims to strengthen ties between new electrical engineering students and the College of Engineering. Elisa Barney Smith, an electrical and computer engineering professor and associate department chair, is the grant’s principal investigator.
 

The grant will fund three upper division students to serve as “route leaders” to maintain contact with newer students. Informal lunches with engineering professors and staff, and “route guides” that include a printed handbook, a Web site and other support services are also planned. Jose Arturo Garcia, a senior-year electrical engineering student from Emmett and an officer of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers student chapter at Boise State, has been selected as the lead route leader.
 

While first-year engineering students take an introductory course that allows them to experience the creativity and variety of the engineering profession, they might not take another engineering course for two and even three semesters, explained Patricia Pyke, director of special programs for the College of Engineering and the grant’s co-principal investigator.

“Promising students sometimes veer off the engineering track after trekking through the rugged terrain of calculus, physics and chemistry, as well as other university required courses,” Pyke said.

“We hope this new initiative will help provide the support and encouragement our electrical engineering students need to stay on course to attain rewarding careers as engineers.”

According to the SIA, the major reasons for high attrition among electrical engineering majors are poor preparation for requisite math and science courses, poor study habits, inadequate understanding of the requirements for the major, faculty attitudes that accept high attrition rates, lack of mentors or peers, and the absence of support systems for new students who are already facing a challenging transition to the college experience. A common theme of all the winning proposals is building peer support for engineering majors during their first two years in college.

The Stay Tech program is a project of the SIA Workforce Strategy Committee. The primary sponsors of the Stay Tech program are IBM, LSI Logic, National Semiconductor, and Xilinx. The Workforce Strategy Committee also includes members from Micron, Agilent, AMD, Altera, Analog Devices, Conexant, Freescale, Integrated Device Technology, Intel, International Rectifier, SEMI, Texas Instruments, and the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

The SIA is the leading voice for the semiconductor industry and has represented U.S. semiconductor companies since 1977. Collectively, the chip industry employs a domestic workforce of 255,000 people. More information about the SIA can be found at www.sia-online.org.

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Contact: Patricia Pyke, College of Engineering, (208) 426-1987, ppyke@boisestate.edu

Media Contact: Janelle Brown, communications and marketing, (208) 426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu

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Last reviewed on Thursday, December 22, 2005