GLUE: Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering

The Women in Engineering Program at The University of Texas at Austin is in the third year of developing, managing and expanding a hands-on, seminar-based undergraduate research program, Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering (GLUE) – Sticking with Engineering Through Undergraduate Research. GLUE undergraduate student participants are matched by major and interest area with a graduate student for the spring semester. The undergraduate participant works with the graduate student on a research project three to five hours per week and attends a weekly seminar focused on research opportunities, graduate school issues and career development topics. Undergraduate students gain engineering and research experience while earning engineering course credit. Graduate students participate in mentor training and skills development workshops while gaining teaching and supervisory experience and enhancing their communication skills. This paper describes the GLUE program including planning and administration, assessment, and corporate and university partnerships. The GLUE program has been successful at UT Austin and has expanded from 13 undergraduate student applicants, 13 mentor-mentee pairs and $4,500 in funding in 2003 to 68 undergraduate student applicants, 34 mentor-mentee pairs and $53,000 in funding in 2005. Undergraduate participants show an increase in the likelihood of attending graduate school after participating in the GLUE program. As for the graduate students who serve as mentors in the program, over 60% of the participants report an improvement in their teaching and communication skills as a result of the program. The GLUE program has become an integral retention and career development initiative for WEP and the College of Engineering at UT Austin. Introduction Although The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) has an excellent graduate program in engineering, many of our undergraduate students know very little about the research going on at our university. Misconceptions about graduate school and research careers are common among the undergraduate population. This lack of knowledge proves to be a real barrier that prevents many undergraduate students, and female and minority students, in particular, from considering graduate school. The Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering (GLUE) program provides an innovative opportunity to expose undergraduate engineering students to research by linking them with graduate engineering students working on research projects in the College of Engineering. The program consists of a semester-long research experience coupled with a structured interdisciplinary seminar course for the undergraduate participants. The program is primarily intended for undergraduates with little to no previous research and engineering