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Retention & Academic Success

Each fall, over 100 new students enter the Program for Mastery in Engineering (known as PROMES—pronounced "promise") in the Cullen College of Engineering. The mission of PROMES is to recruit, educate, and retain a diverse community of aspiring engineers. PROMES students start the fall semester with a full-day training workshop on the Guaranteed 4.0 Learning System© to help them take control of their academic success. During their first year, PROMES students participate in math and science workshops and enjoy project-based experiences in their introductory engineering courses. Students also participate in service and outreach. PROMES students excel academically, and develop personally and professionally as future engineers. Your contributions fund scholarships for first-generation-in-college students and support peer-led academic excellence workshops for challenging engineering courses.

Recruitment & Outreach

Summer Programs: MESET
For over thirty years PROMES has served underrepresented minority high school students from all over the country through the Mentoring and Enrichment Seminar in Engineering Training (MESET) summer camp. This week-long residential program, offered twice in summer 2008, brings the on-campus college experience to up to 100 rising 12th graders a year. Participants gain exposure to the many disciplines of engineering through lab and classroom sessions with faculty and professional engineers. The curriculum includes visits to local engineering workplaces, the NASA Johnson Space Center, and local museums. Students compete in team design contests featuring roller coaster physics and Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics. PROMES undergraduate engineering students serve as camp counselors and mentors. The real cost per camper is approximately $1,000, but we rely on industry contributions to keep costs low to attract talented, but often financially needy, youth.

New in 2008: Step Forward Day Camp
In summer 2008 we introduced two weeks of pre-engineering day camps to students from area high schools. This pilot program served 71 students from area schools. Funds are needed to continue this program. Be a Step Forward Camp Sponsor!

Wheatley High School FIRST Robotics Team and Step Forward Mentors

Outreach: Step Forward Mentors
The Step Forward Mentoring program places undergraduate engineering student mentors in the classrooms at local low-income high schools. Over the past two years we have placed twenty mentors per semester at Wheatley High School and Chavez High School. We recently added KIPP Liberation Middle School to our program. The goal of each Step Forward mentor is to serve as a positive role model to younger students from similar economic and ethnic backgrounds, encouraging them to consider education, especially science and engineering studies, beyond high school. Mentors also assist with high school programs such as FIRST Robotics. Each Step Forward mentor earns a $1,000 stipend for a semester of service to the program to defray their own college expenses. Contact us to become a Step Forward Partner! Your contributions place engineering student mentors in the classrooms at local low-income high schools.

Annual Sponsorship Levels

• $30,000 — Platinum Sponsor
• $25,000 — Gold Sponsor
• $15,000 — Silver Sponsor
• $10,000 — Bronze Sponsor