Partners in Transitioning to Tech: Supporting Students Who Follow Nontraditional Paths to Engineering Degrees

Computer Engineering (ECE) supports students from underrepresented groups who follow nontraditional paths to an ECE degree, specifically through the dual-degree program. The PITT program addresses issues that arise as students join the engineering program mid-stream by using a variety of strategies, including peer partnerships, mentoring and tutoring from program-specific graduate teaching assistants, group seminars featuring distinguished alumni who have taken nontraditional educational paths, and exposure to research opportunities. The PITT program has been extremely successful in its first year. The retention rate of the students in the PITT program is 100 % (contrast with a 58 % retention rate in Spring 2004) and the average cumulative GPA, 2.43, is an improvement over the Spring 2004 average cumulative GPA of 2.03. This program encourages student success among underrepresented groups and ultimately contributes to the institutional benefit of a diverse student population. Index Terms – nontraditional educational pathways, retention strategies