ASEE recognizes FAU College of Engineering and Computer with its Highest Award

POSTED ON Feb 02, 2021

In 2016, Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science was awarded a Title III Hispanic Serving Institution STEM Articulation grant from the United States Department of Education. The project serves as a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline in collaboration with two local state/community colleges. This January, the university announced that the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Diversity Recognition Program recognized the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science as a national leader in diversity in engineering.

“Engineering is a creative field that requires people of diverse talents, expertise, and perspectives to solve humanity’s greatest challenges in an increasingly complex world,” said Stella Batalama, dean of the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science. “We are honored to receive this important distinction from the American Society of Engineering Education.”

The ASEE Deans Diversity Pledge has been signed by more than 220 of ASEE’s 330-member engineering colleges. The program was created in 2019 “to recognize those engineering and engineering technology colleges that make significant, measurable progress in increasing the diversity, inclusion, and degree attainment outcomes of their programs.” The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science stood out for several reasons:

Commitment to supporting underrepresented groups in engineering
Regularly assessing the composition, policy, culture, and climate-related to underrepresented groups in engineering
Providing programming that inspires and encourages students in K-12 or community college to pursue STEM fields in postsecondary education
Developing an action plan for continuous improvement.

The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science is also home to 17 female faculty members and administrators. The engineering programs consist of 18.83 percent undergraduate female students; 25.94 percent master’s female students; and 24.64 percent doctoral female students that include underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

The Women in Engineering and Computer Science student group includes 105 members. Student demographics of this group are 34 percent white, 27 percent Hispanic, 19 percent black, and 14 percent Asian.

The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science also promotes and supports student professional organizations and technology-based student clubs, including the Society for Hispanic Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and a student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Club.