Collaborative Research: CMN PEEC Project: Providing for the Education of American Indian Engineers

College of Menominee Nation (CMN), together with the University of Wisconsin Madison and the

University of Wisconsin Platteville, is applying to the National Science Foundations Science, Tribal

Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) Pre-engineering Education Collaborative grant to strengthen

CMN?s capacity to establish CMN as an Associate Degree granting engineering program of distinction. .

The CMN PEEC: Providing for the Education of American Indian Engineers collaborative project

proposes the following objectives:

 To build CMN?s capacity and infrastructure to sustain a Pre-engineering Associate Degree Program.

 To implement a Pre-engineering program of distinction.

 By September 2015, to graduate at least twenty students from CMN?s pre-engineering program and

transition into U.W. Madison?s and U.W. Platteville?s engineering programs.

Project Intellectual Merit: This project recognizes and embraces diversity and the role Tribal Colleges

play in coordinating demonstrative research on increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities

in STEM fields. Tribal Colleges are key contributors to the body of knowledge on American Indians.

Project research, data, and outcomes focused in the ultimate outcomes of increasing the number of and

performance of American Indian students in engineering, leading to increased numbers of American

Indians in engineering careers, will provide key nationally recognized research. This collaboration will

develop, apply and assess evidence-based practices shown to increase the participation of

underrepresented minority students in science and engineering. Furthermore, the partnership between

CMN and its UW partners is tailored to establish robust connections between institutions that will serve as

a model for the engineering community in general and other minority-serving institutions as we assess,

document and disseminate the success of this process.

Project Broader Impact: This project will build upon the research of previous STEM activities, continuing

the investigation of essential research in discovering and understanding how Tribal Colleges and the

unique strategies they implement promote education in minority students. The project further advances

the research of American Indian undergraduate education in engineering and contributes to the global

body of knowledge in underrepresented minority engineering education. The short term outcome of this

effort will be to increase the knowledge, understanding and interest in engineering among students in

rural populations, with emphasis on the American Indian population of Northern Wisconsin. The long

term outcome will be an increase in the participation of American Indian students graduating with degrees

in engineering. This will ensure that the voices, perspectives and talents of a population that is so

underrepresented in engineering have an opportunity to contribute to the development of the engineering

profession.