Skip to main content

College Using Shared NSF Grant to Create Engineering Career Pipeline for Young Students


Salt Lake Community College’s (SLCC) School of Math, Science and Engineering and the Jordan School District’s (JSD) Pre-Engineering Program (PREP) received a $589,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will be used to extend and enhance the current PREP program and then create a direct connection between JSD’s PREP program and SLCC’s Engineering Technology (ET) Program.

 

The multi-year grant will also increase access and success for SLCC ET students, improve graduation rates for students of color and women, and engage JSD middle school students in intensive, year-round experiences in engineering technology. This will allow a completely new approach for how SLCC delivers college credits in the ET program while creating a career pipeline in ET for younger students.

 

“One of our greatest challenges has been to recruit students into engineering programs that are essential to Utah’s continued economic development,” said Craig Caldwell, dean of SLCC’s School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering. “This new grant from the National Science Foundation will directly contribute to our ability to connect these students to high quality educational programs at SLCC and provide an accelerated pathway that places students in high wage jobs in engineering fields.”

 

The modified PREP program consists of two parts. For students in the 7th through 9th grades, the program offers consistent contact, encouragement, and experiences to foster their interest in engineering through bridge activities at SLCC’s Westpointe campus.  The second part of the program, under the grant known as “PREP Plus,” adds a completely new fourth year to the program for students in the 10th grade with enhanced contact and activity within SLCC engineering.

 

The culmination of the grant is to allow these students as 11th and 12th graders to dual enroll at SLCC to earn a newly created SLCC ET certificate of completion as they complete high school. A number of these courses will be in a Competency Based Education (CBE) format, allowing students to progress at their own pace and accomplish academic goals consistent with the traditional ET courses. Students will also receive focused career and academic advising.  Upon graduation, students will have a clear choice forward into jobs within the manufacturing workforce, to complete their two-year degree in ET at SLCC, or to jump with a significant head start into other engineering pathways.

 

“This NSF grant will allow the college to retool curriculum in our ET program and deliver this content to students as they finish up the extended PREP program also made possible by this funding,” said Jonathan Barnes, associate dean for the Division of Natural Sciences and Engineering at SLCC. “As PREP allows students to act on their interests in engineering early, we can deepen SLCC’s reach and provide more ways for our students to fill critical local needs in fabrication and manufacturing.”

 

The Prep Plus program is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2000862 through the Advanced Technological Education funding opportunity.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rev Up Your Future at SLCC Annuals Hop into College

SLCC West Valley Center will be opening its doors on Friday, August 2, from 6-9 pm for their annual lowrider event that celebrates the automotive culture and welcomes current, past, and future Bruins into the SLCC community. This unique event allows lowriders to showcase their vehicles and for spectators to witness the creativity, craftsmanship, and passion that goes into a lowrider car. From the sleek custom paint jobs to the impressive hydraulics showcased at the hop-off, attendees get immersed in the vibrant culture created by SLCC West Valley’s community. Beyond the car show, Hop into College provides prospective students and their families the opportunity to explore SLCC, engage with their future peers, staff and faculty and obtain valuable insight into the degrees and programs offered. Furthermore, the community is provided with countless beneficial resources not only as an SLCC student but as a community member. Whether interested in learning more about the lowrider community o...
Post a Comment
Read more

SLCC Alumnus and U.S. Diplomat to Speak at 2025 Commencement

Salt Lake Community College’s 2025 Commencement speaker Branigan Knowlton will share his perspectives drawn from a 12-year career as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. In serving his country, Knowlton has honed his foreign relations and diplomacy skills in Hong Kong, Mexico, Colombia and Italy. Knowlton is also a proud Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) alumnus (2002).     Knowlton currently serves at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. Before reporting to the embassy, he was detailed to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport as part of the Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellowship program. In Bogotá, Knowlton worked for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and in Hermosillo, Mexico, he worked for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. His first assignment abroad was in Hong Kong, where he worked for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.     "I've actively sought opportunities that push me into the unfamiliar, even when ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recognizing SLCC's 2025 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Andrew Vogt, PhD Associate Professor, Engineering

The Distinguished Faculty Lecturer is a recognition of quality work by one of Salt Lake Community College’s full-time faculty and a charge to develop that work over an academic year into a public presentation. A committee chosen by the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement selects the faculty lecturer each year. The lecture takes place in the spring. Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Andrew Vogt, PhD Associate Professor, Engineering Dr. Andrew Vogt’s teaching philosophy is guided by two principles, curiosity and efficiency.  “Curiosity leads us to study a topic and allows us to really understand the ins and outs of research, while efficiency is all about sustainability,” he says. Andrew describes curiosity as a pure, open-minded impulse to explore, such as the ease with which children learn new concepts with virtually no instruction. Efficiency adds maturity to that childlike impulse, creating structures and pathways for accomplishment.  Andrew’s work has alwa...
Post a Comment
Read more