Planning: Track 1: Curriculum and Advancements in Recruitment, Education, and Engineering Retention (CAREER)

The goal of the proposed planning effort is to develop the partnerships and institutional mechanisms necessary so that within five years, the Boise State University College of Engineering can engage Idaho's underserved Latinx population as a Hispanic "serving college." The focus of the work is particularly crucial in the region as Idaho is one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Boise State University is the largest public university with the largest engineering college in the state, and the Boise metropolitan area in southern Idaho contains the state's three largest cities by population. The Latinx population is approximately 13% and is the largest underserved population in Idaho, with the majority in southern Idaho. The university is also located in the state capitol, a vigorous center for government, business, and innovation. This planning effort focuses on strengthening pathways, ensuring community, and changing the culture so Boise State serves transfer students from Idaho community colleges.The emphasis of the work is on the concept of "servingness," which research has correlated to positive academic, non-academic, and student experience outcomes at Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs). The team already engages with the College of Western Idaho (CWI) and the College of Southern Idaho (CSI). CWI is an emerging HSI, and CSI just became an HSI in 2021. Planning work will advance knowledge of organizational development, the servingness framework, and its study and application to help emerging institutions build an identity as an HSI that serves rather than merely enrolling Hispanic students. The team will examine potentially transformative features: improving pathways and placement for students transferring from community colleges, intentional community building practices, and the cultural shifts required to educate and incentivize faculty to employ inclusive teaching practices. As the planning effort moves toward best practices, this experience can contribute to the literature and introduce practical solutions to other universities in partnership with community colleges. Broader impacts include meeting the needs of our Latinx population, representing 24% of the state's growth over the last decade. This community has also provided 31% employment growth since 2009. Idaho has a low percentage of students attending college (40%), and many area high schools are designated Title 1 and rural; many of these students may initially attend community colleges. The knowledge and partnerships gained from this proposal are imperative to increase the number of these students seeking an additional educational opportunity at four-year institutions. Other universities can also gain from findings resulting from this effort about math placement, curriculum complexity, and cultural change. Finally, the effort will help strengthen partnerships with community colleges, helping Idaho become more of a transparent system that students can easily navigate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.