NDSU is hosting a summer camp to help North Dakota tribal college students transition to careers in engineering. The program, titled "Pre-Engineering education collaboration: 2+2+2+8: Pipeline for Tribal Pre-Engineering to Society," known as PEEC:PTiPS, began Monday, Aug. 10, and runs through Friday, Aug. 21.
A total of 10 students from Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Turtle Mountain Community College and Fort Berthold Community College are participating.
The structured summer camp has sessions on academics, mathematics, communication skills and engineering professional development. Students also work on individual research projects and take part in a field trip.
Robert Pieri, coordinator of Tribal Community Colleges-NDSU Partnerships and professor of mechanical engineering, said PEEC:PTiPS helps American Indian students transition from high school to career by way of a community college and NDSU.
"This program really opens doors for the students. It gives them not only an opportunity to gain insight into an area they may not know much about, but to actually picture themselves in that context," Pieri said. "It allows students to consider careers they may have never thought of before."
Some of the camp participants are older-than-average students and single parents.
"This program is about opportunity. For example, I was talking to a student who said she did not have the confidence to think her work was important, and yet she had one of the more innovative suggestions I've seen for an engineering situation," Pieri said.
According to Pieri, the program will hopefully contribute to a climate that will eventually bring 200 to 300 Native American students to the NDSU campus.
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