Summer Workshops for High School Juniors: A Medium to Recruit Underrepresented Students

Abstract

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi recently implemented a new program to improve the recruitment of underrepresented students by attracting juniors in high schools to participate in two-week summer workshops and a follow-up science and technology exhibit. Faculty, students, professional organizations, and a number of manufacturing and processing industries are involved in the delivery of the program. The workshops are designed to introduce students to college life, involve them in hands-on activities, and encourage them to pursue science and engineering careers. Our goal is to make the activities undertaken by this project an integral part of the recruiting and training efforts and expand them to reach a larger geographical area and a higher number of underrepresented students. The paper will describe the program and present the results of summer 2003 workshops.