Project activities and outcomes that are expected to be sustained include: STEM education partnering between DMACC and Iowa State, DMACC’s EGR 100, DMACC’s pre-engineering program, E-APP, transfer learning communities at Iowa State, targeted community college advising messaging, National Academy of Engineers Changing the Conversation-based resources, engineering career awareness through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Engineer of 2020 curricular innovations, and new data management and reporting.
Potential longer-term outcomes include: building a culture that embraces transfer student programming through professional and program development; leveraging learning community best practices to retain students at the second- and third-year levels, ultimately contributing to higher graduation rates; and using synergistic partnerships (e.g., with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach) to develop new resources and create interest in engineering study and careers. Collaboration with the Office of Community College Research and Policy is another aspect of the project that has produced related research to inform future practice at Iowa State, DMACC, and similar institutions.