For Immediate Release
June 12, 2002
Contact: John Hammond, Director of Public Relations, 210/733-2147, jhammond@accd.edu
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SAC Receives NSF Grant |
| San Antonio College has received a three-year grant from the National
Science Foundation for $332,194 aimed at increasing the number of associate’s
and bachelor’s degrees in engineering granted to minorities in South
Central Texas. This effort is a response to a national decline in engineering
preparation in high schools and engineering degrees earned in colleges.
Dr. Dan G. Dimitriu, MSME, engineering coordinator, is the principal investigator.
According to the American Association of Engineering Societies, the number of engineering degrees conferred has decreased by 20 percent in recent years, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board reports a similar decrease in engineering degrees awarded in Texas. Local educators say only 15 percent of high school graduates are prepared to take college-level engineering courses, as noted by San Antonio Express-News reporter Matt Flores in an article last October. The goals of the grant are to enroll a minimum of 40 high school students in dual credit engineering or pre-engineering courses and 30 college students each semester in one or more engineering courses offered on the Internet. Additional goals are to increase by 200 percent both the number of students who earn an associate’s degree in engineering at San Antonio College and the number of engineering majors at San Antonio College who transfer to four-year institutions. With the NSF funding, San Antonio College will establish dual credit engineering courses in at least five area high schools, train engineering faculty in distance education, and infuse engineering curricula with state-of-the-art technology. Retention strategies being implemented at San Antonio College with a Title V grant will be extended to include Hispanic and other minority students majoring in engineering. Also, articulation plans will be developed with UTSA, Texas A&M University, Southwest Texas University, and other institutions to encourage seamless engineering studies from high schools to San Antonio College to four-year institutions. For more information about the grant, contact Dan Dimitriu at 733-2836. |
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1300 San Pedro Ave. • San Antonio, Texas • 78212-4299 • (210) 733-2147 |