The Engineering Foundations Program-a new program for minority students in engineering at Cornell

Abstract

The principle behind the Engineering Foundations Program (established in 1988) is that some minority applicants in the pool of apparently underprepared students (relative to the typical profile of Cornell engineering students) should be given an opportunity to learn at a slower pace and have an opportunity to take preparatory courses if necessary. At the same time, they should be assisted in developing social and cultural skills necessary to succeed in the professional world. The resulting program stretches the first two years of the normal engineering curriculum into three; special preparatory courses have also been organized to fit this schedule. Concurrently, special nonacademic activities are conducted to help develop in the students the noncognitive skills generally necessary for higher academic achievement. The authors describe the courses created for the students enrolled in this program, review the administrative support for the program, and summarize the first year's performance of the first group of students to be enrolled in it.<>