NSF Award
9353782
9353782 Keshmiri The TAP Program is aimed at mining the rich vein of talent that women can offer. Encouraged by the enthusiastic response to the earlier IDEAS effort, the TAP Program is built upon the best of IDEAS. TAP TEAMS will be formed on the basis of major fields of study and will consist of incoming women, returning women, and women alumnae. The teams will be formed during the two-day "Transition" experience, maintained throughout the "Assimilation" experience, and widely utilized for the "Preparation" experience. The Transition component will provide a two-day on campus experience designed to make incoming women feel comfortable and connected to MSoE. All activities will promote interaction, bonding, and networking with other incoming women students, returning women students, and women representing the faculty, staff, and alumnae of the college. The Assimilation component will strengthen the friendships and networks begun during the Transition stage and provide new opportunities for feeling connected to the School and to the field of engineering. These opportunities will include shadowing MSoE women as they work on their senior design projects, designing and implementing new programs that meet the special needs of women on the MSoE campus, and participating in a lecture-discussion series led by professional women engineers. The Preparation component will help women formulate realistic career goals and strengthen their commitment to the filed of engineering. This will be achieved through an extensive shadowing program linking sophomore students to professional women engineers, through quarterly forums in which students share their experiences, and through increased student participation in professional organizations on campus. Evaluation of the effectiveness will involve external consultation, students and faculty/staff. ***
