2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

ASEE Support to Student Veterans: Results of a 2018 ASEE Leadership Roundtable

Presented at Military and Veterans Division Technical Session 2

As industry demands for qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers continue to increase, supporting diverse groups of students towards success in STEM may help mitigate future shortfalls in the STEM workforce. Education benefits like the post 9/11 GI Bill may provide a viable pathway for increasing the STEM-qualified, engineering technician, engineering technologist, and engineer (ETETE) workforce through the nation’s veteran population. Supporting student veterans along ETETE pathways may involve three key tasks: 1) building early awareness of ETETE pathways; 2) ensuring academic recognition for prior military work experience; and 3) providing seamless support from government agencies, academic institutions, and industry. Student veterans follow non-traditional education pathways and bring with them a wealth of diverse life experiences. Correspondingly, the growing number of veterans pursuing STEM degrees, and the diversity of this underserved group of students continues to gain the attention of faculty, administrators, and national organizations. To bolster ASEE’s support for many diverse groups to include student veterans in ETETE pathways, the ASEE president commissioned a series of leadership roundtables during the 2018 ASEE National Conference and Exposition. There, roundtables were tasked with making recommendations regarding how ASEE can support engineering education, relevant diversity research, and engagement of these diverse communities in society activities.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of the 2018 ASEE Student Veteran Leadership roundtable. This roundtable brought together a diverse group of veterans, engineering educators, and engineering student veteran researchers. Through a series of ideation exercises and discussions, the group examined the challenges student veterans traditionally face, on-going support initiatives at their home institutions, and recommended actions for ASEE to pursue in the years ahead. The topics discussed during the panel are related to previous research about the challenges faced by veteran students beyond ETETE career paths. A series of novel initiatives are presented that may assist ASEE and university administrators more broadly in adopting a fresh approach to veteran student support.

Authors

Lt. Col. Brian J. Novoselich U.S. Military Academy [biography]

Brian Novoselich is an active duty Army Lieutenant Colonel currently serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy (West Point). He earned his Ph.D. in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech in 2016. He holds Master's and Bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and West Point respectively. His research interests include capstone design teaching and assessment, undergraduate engineering student leadership development, and social network analysis. He is also a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Lt. Col. Jakob C. Bruhl http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1645-4520 U.S. Military Academy [biography]

Lieutenant Colonel Jakob Bruhl is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY. He received his B.S. from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, M.S. Degrees from the University of Missouri at Rolla and the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and Ph.D. from Purdue University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Missouri. His research interests include resilient infrastructure, protective structures, and engineering education.
Mr. Matthew Scheidt http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6779-1992 Purdue University-Main Campus, West Lafayette (College of Engineering) [biography]

Matthew Scheidt is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education at Purdue University. He graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University with a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing. Matt is currently part of Dr. Allison Godwin’s STRIDE (Shaping Transformative Research on Identity and Diversity in Engineering) research group at Purdue. His research interest focuses on supporting military veterans within post-secondary education.
Ms. Christina Nicole Willis University of Utah [biography]

Christina Willis is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Utah. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Utah State University and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah. Her current research is focused on the development and improvement of electrochemical sensors for disease diagnosis by breath. Her interest in support for diversity and special interest groups inspired her collaboration on this project.
Mr. Michael Scott Sheppard Jr. http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-5456-802X Arizona State University [biography]

Having completed a Master of Science in Engineering degree in 2019, Michael is continuing in his pursuit of a Ph.D. in Engineering Education. His drive toward this field of study is to cultivate skills and knowledge that will better prepare him for a career focused on combating human-trafficking. Michael is seeking to find a way to integrate technical engineering principles, scientific research practices, and a broad network of motivated leaders to end human trafficking. Michael believes this integrated team, coupled with a holistic approach, will inhibit future trafficking crimes, while improving the well-being of current survivors.

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