Academic Enrichment

Nearly 500 undergraduate students from underrepresented minority groups were enrolled in the Cullen College of Engineering in the fall 2005 semester, comprising roughly one-third of the total undergraduate enrollment. PROMES serves this population and all interested students through specialized freshman and transfer student curricula that emphasizes academic success strategies and personal and professional skills development. PROMES students participate in peer-led collaborative learning workshops supporting math, science, and engineering courses. Upper division students facilitate these workshops and receive stipends in return for their service. These workshops support primarily freshman and sophomore level courses and are at the heart of our retention activities, helping students grasp tough concepts early in their engineering studies and allowing them to gain confidence and important study skills. PROMES provides scholarships to outstanding students through relationships with industry partners. Incoming students benefit from mentoring relationships with upper division students and from participation in student chapters of professional engineering societies such as the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and the Society of Mexican American Scientists and Engineers (MAES). PROMES students participate in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Women in Engineering Program. Student leaders have recently formed the PROMES Action Committee (PAC) to support the objectives of the PROMES program. PAC members direct the PROMES Mentoring Program and raise funds to sponsor scholarships for the PROMES Freshman of the Year recognition awards.