Programs

AWE Program The “Attracting Women into Engineering (AWE)” program was established in 1999 and has been run for eight consecutive years. The goal of this experience is to provide middle school girls with hands-on opportunities in exploring various areas of engineering while reinforcing the need for them to stay focused on their science and math studies. Rowan female faculty and female students participate by conducting numerous workshops for the girls. Industry involvement provides an experiential component, and Sony Music, Exxon Mobil and the American Association of Colleges and Universities have provided sponsorship to AWE. This program was established in 1999 and caters to 120 participants every year. Every year there is good representation from underrepresented populations (Statistics from 2006: 33% African Americans, 16% Hispanics, 16% Asians and 33% Caucasians). The program introduces girls to Bridges using Jenga blocks.

RISE Program Rowan’s Introduction for Student in Engineering (RISE) is a new program for high school students and is being introduced this summer. It is a two-day workshop to encourage students in the Gloucester county area to explore the engineering profession. This activity is intended also to raise the profile of Rowan Engineering in the face of increased competition, as the demographics show that we will have a decline in the number of college age students as early as 2009.

C.H.A.M.P/GEAR-UP Program The College has also been involved over the past five summers with workshops in collaboration with Rowan’s C.H.A.M.P./GEAR-UP (Creating Higher Aspirations and Motivations Project / Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) initiative. C.H.A.M.P. is one of 10 College Bound programs in the state of New Jersey serving 7th through 12th grade students. The project now serves 250 students of this age group in Camden City, Millville, Vineland and Bridgeton Public Schools. The program is supported by grants from the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, The Camden City Board of Education, Campbell Soup Foundation, and Rowan University. The participants are largely from under-represented groups that we hope to attract to engineering studies.

ECT Program This program was started in 2006 from a grant from the Martinson Foundation. The week-long program is aimed at exposing engineering careers to elementary and middle school teachers via hand on activities. The program is currently being funded by the Martinson Foundation and is in its second year. Participants are exposed to transportation engineering via an interactive hand-on module on bridge building and a truss bridge-building software (West Point Bridge Builder) .