Work in progress — Recruiting initiatives for Hispanic, first-generation students

The “Program to Increase College Opportunities and Successes” (PICOS) is an NSF S-STEM funded initiative to increase the number of Hispanic, first-generation, economically disadvantaged students in Math, Chemistry, Engineering, and Engineering Technology using scholarship funds and academic success initiatives. The first phase of the project was implementing a recruiting strategy. To facilitate this, a recruiting advisory board composed of Hispanic representatives from the community and university was established. This board helped develop recruiting materials, educate the management team on Hispanic family dynamics, and advertise the program in the community. A second component was to have a knowledgeable recruiter involved in the program. The recruiter also served as liaison between the PICOS program and the broader university recruiters. A third component was to alleviate anxieties about college preparedness and transition by incorporating a summer bridge program. In the first two years, 25 students were recruited into the target majors, nearly doubling the overall Hispanic enrollment in these majors. This paper will elaborate on the recruiting strategies and impacts associated with this phase of the PICOS program.