GEARING UP

Abstract

Engineering students benefit from an extra year of preparation in the "redshirt" model. In 2009, the need for an extra year of targeted support for these students inspired the creation of an engineering "redshirt" program at the University of Colorado Boulder. The name was derived from "redshirting" in college athletics, in which athletes who show great potential but are not yet ready to compete at the college level are given an additional year to prepare. The University of Washington and Washington State University adopted the Redshirt in Engineering model in 2013. The most robust Redshirt programs have been sustained by institutional resources, including budget allocations, support from fundraising personnel, and faculty time to write proposals to funding agencies. As such, the level of support required to implement a high-fidelity Redshirt in Engineering program with a full five-year curriculum requires institutional commitment to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering and computer science.

Engineering students benefit f rom an extra year of preparation in the "redshirt" model.

Emily Knaphus-Soran is o senior research scientist at the Center for Evaiuation & Research for STEM Equity and an affiiiate assistant professor of socioiogy at the University of Washington. She has served as the evaluator for several NSF-funded programs, inciuding the Redshirt in Engineering Consortium. Eve Riskin is dean of undergraduate education and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology She is an IEEE Fellow and recipiënt of a Rresidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Jana Milford is professor emerita of mechanical engineering and environmental engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she served as a facuity advisor for the Engineering GoidShirt Program.

This articie is adapted f rom "The Redshirt in Engineering Model: Lessons Learned through implementation Across Six institutions," in Advances in Engineering Education (Volume 12, Issue I), https://bit.ry/3UuUK9H.

The engineering workforce benefits greatly from the knowledge and perspectives of bright minds from a variety of backgrounds. However, four-year engineering programs are typically designed for students who are calculus-ready, so many students from under-resourced secondary schools that do not offer advanced math courses face obstacles to engineering admission and degree completion. In addition to the workforce missing out on these students' contributions, such barriers limit access to the upward economie mobility that an engineering degree can provide.

In 2009, the need for an extra year of targeted support for these students inspired the creation of an engineering "redshirt" program at the University of Colorado Boulder. The name was derived from "redshirting" in college athletics, in which athletes who show great potential but are not yet ready to compete at the college level are given an additional year to prepare.

The University of Washington and Washington State University adopted the Redshirt in Engineering model in 2013. In 2016, the NSF-funded Redshirt in Engineering Consortium was formed to advance the three existing programs and expand the model to three new universities: Boise State University,

University of California San Diego, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

While there was considerable variation between programs, conversations among members of the Consortium resulted in a definition of the Redshirt model centered on five key pillars: (1) a focus on supporting high-achieving students from low income or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds;

(2) an expected five-year graduation timeline;

(3) personal, professional, and study skills development; (4) "intrusive" advising (inciuding proactive check-ins); and (5) community-building and social support.

Research and evaiuation have demonstrated that Redshirt in Engineering programs help students develop a strong community of peers, overcome academie barriers to success in STEM courses, strengthen understanding of engineering pathways, and persist in engineering. While this body of work indicates that, overall, Redshirt programs support student success in engineering, differences exist in the scope and magnitude of outcomes across institutions and over time. An investigation of these deviations alongside insights from conversations between consortium members contributed to an emergent understanding of the essential elements of a strong Redshirt in Engineering program and refinement of the model. For example, programs were most successful at improving skills and performance in foundational STEM courses when they could establish a five-year graduation timeline that began with precalculus and offered dedicated Redshirt workshops, lab/quiz sections, and tutoring/study sessions.

The most robust Redshirt programs have been sustained by institutional resources, inciuding budget allocations, support from fundraising personnel, and faculty time to write proposals to funding agencies. As such, the level of support required to implement a high-fidelity Redshirt in Engineering program with a full five-year curriculum requires institutional commitment to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering and computer science. Programs without funding for full-time program coördinators and/or dedicated Redshirt advisers have a harder time providing holistic support. Well-supported programs have also had the ability to establish their own Redshirt-specific courses, lab sections, workshops, and second-year programming that create an expected five-year graduation timeline.

While Redshirt programs are cost-intensive, they can offer an important pathway to engineering degree completion for their focal student populations and, in doing so, help increase diversity in engineering and computer science.