Sarah Cooley Jones (LSU) Kelly A. Rusch (LSU) Del H. Dugas (ExxonMobil) 1 ASEE 2011 Session T251B

 CoE is the senior college ◦ Enrollment ~3000 ◦ Freshmen ~850  Minority enrollment UCFY 12% CoE 10%  Minority cumulative 5 year graduation rate 31% 2 “Fostering a culture of diversity adds more points of view, yields a more diverse workforce and ultimately increases the overall strength of our college” - LSU College of Engineering Strategic Plan

 Recruit and retain minorities  Fund 10 scholars for 4 years  Develop a mentoring element  Increase the participant graduation rate 3

 Initial awards $4,500/year  $500 semester Merit increases  Up to $6,000/year  Incoming Freshmen 4

 Selection ◦ Academic performance; ACT, H.S. GPA & class rank  Added college academic performance ◦ Community Service/Leadership ◦ Essay ◦ Financial need ◦ Awards/Honors ◦ Interview  Remain a Scholar ◦ 3.00 GPA ◦ Participation 5

6 ExxonMobil scholars demographics (enrollment) Description Phase 1 (n=19) Phase 2 (n=13) CoE mean Female26% 38% 16.8% Male74%62% 83.2% African American 79% 77%9.2% Caucasian0% 78.1% Asian American0% 3.8% Hispanic21% 23% 3.2%

7 ExxonMobil Scholars Academic predicators Parameter Phase 1 (n=19) Phase 2 (n=13) CoE mean ACT Composite High School GPA High School Rank

 Academic seminars  Professional Development seminars ◦ Mock Interviews   One-on-one meetings with staff 8 Mock Interview with ExxonMobil s

 One-to-One mentor matching  Mentor & Scholar dinner/workshops  Refinery Site Visit  Advisory Panel 9

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11 Academic Performance and Scholarship Status Phase 1 ScholarsPhase 2 Scholars All Scholars Scholar Graduates Scholar Unfunded All Scholars* Scholars Funded * n=19n=8n=11n=13n=10 GPA (mean) Students on Probation *GPA after 2.5 years in curriculum

12 Cumulative graduation rates (%) CoE Phase 1ExxonMobil Scholars CoE Minority Cohort Years All Phase 1 n=19 Scholar Graduates n=8 Unfunded Scholars n=11 University 4 Year (%) Year (%) Year (%) Engineering Curriculum 4 Year (%) Year (%) Year (%)

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14 The Scholars Say- “Better understanding of skills used by engineering, science or math professionals.” “Encouragement and/or moral support from my mentor.” The Mentors Say- “Self reflection on my own career.” “The opportunity to pass along what I have learned.”

15 Pearson’s correlations for scholarship selection criteria and maintaining a college GPA > 3.0 Group ACT composite score High School GPA High School Percentile GPA All Participants Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N GPA Phase 1 Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N16 15 GPA Phase 2 Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N1312

 Phase 1 scholars (6) -15% of the minority LSU BS Engineering degrees  Three Phase 1 Scholars GPA >3.50  Phase 2 participants, 92% retained in engineering curriculum at LSU  Mentors reinforce the traits of a successful engineer 16

 Scholars graduate with multiple job offers; four employed by ExxonMobil  An industry mentor liaison is critical for success 17

This material is based upon work supported by ExxonMobil Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ExxonMobil Foundation. 18