ENGAGING AND RETAINING STUDENTS IN THE GEOSCIENCES THROUGH CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

With little to no growth in community college enrollment expected in the coming years (Smith, July 21 2018, Inside Higher Ed) especially as the economy strengthens, strategies for engaging students in the geosciences…and retaining them…may benefit from investment in career and technical education programs. Mount San Antonio College (Mt SAC) is a large, single-campus community college (60,000+ total enrollment) in the Los Angeles area. It is also a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with 53% Hispanic/Latino students. Enrollment at Mt. SAC in the natural sciences has seen about a 10% increase since 2011, immediately after many enrollments nationwide began to drop. However, enrollment in the geosciences has remained level in that same timeframe and has seen the beginning of some potential positive trends with enrollment of students identifying as Hispanic/Latino growing from 55% to 68% over the last several years. However, these diversity data are limited to a few years of collection through involvement in the Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education at 2-Year Colleges project (SAGE2YC; NSF-DUE). As a strategy to engage more students in the geosciencses, we have begun developing a “Geotechnician Certificate” program as part of the college’s significant investment in career and technical education. Students obtaining the Geotechnical Certificate will increase their chances of entry-level employment with local government agencies as well as private firms specializing in water resources and quality, engineering geology, petroleum resources, environmental hazards and remediation. Because a significant component of the program will be work experience with local firms, students from traditionally underrepresented and underserved groups will have opportunities for employment at firms and agencies that require geotechnical skills and are a part of their local communities. We will discuss the trends in enrollment and diversity at our college and in our program, accomplishments to date on the certificate, challenges related to implementation and buy-in from stakeholders, and progress in creating a network of local employers for students who have completed the program.