Howdy!
We all hope that you have been enjoying the holiday season and this break from school and/or work. In the spirit of the upcoming spring recruitment season, I have a short post about how Texas A&M Geosciences was represented at the AGU Fall 2013 Meeting in a different manner. Dr. Sonia Garcia, Director of Undergraduate and Transfer Recruitment and Retention and Dr. Chris Houser, GeoX faculty liaison and professor of geography and geology, presented their poster on the effectiveness of our recruitment programs for high school students on increasing awareness, education and participation in the geosciences. Dr. Garcia, along with help from her graduate assistant Janet Torres, and Dr. Houser and a few of his graduate students, have worked diligently to host the GeoX Summer Exploration program for the past three years. Throughout the years, they have collected and compiled survey responses from participants and their families before and after the week-long summer program to gauge how much students and parents learned from the experience. Responses were recorded and used as the basis for data for the poster presented at this year’s poster session in the geosciences education category.
Garcia, a Ph. D. in Adult and Higher Education from Michigan State University, does not have a background in geosciences, but has been able to learn from faculty and students since joining the college. She developed these programs with the goal of increasing awareness of the growing field of geosciences and has recruited many outstanding students into the college, myself included. Her two main recruitment programs include GeoX, a week-long summer program that gives an in-depth introduction into each of the departments in our college and iGeo, a weekend-long introductory program to the geosciences field. This research study was solely based on the results from the GeoX program from the past three years, where students are given the opportunity to experience college and our programs just as an enrolled student would by staying in on-campus dorms, attending classes, programs and special workshops, participating in interactive activities and conducting their own research projects with current students and faculty.
Overall, the entire program is a huge success, with an average of 62% of participants choosing to attend Texas A&M and enroll in our college. As a product of the iGeo program myself, I can personally attest to the unique experience that these programs offer to high school students. The ability to be able to come into a university and learn from professors and students who are passionate about their fields and willing to help you learn and understand what it is that they do is invaluable to any prospective student, in my opinion. If you are interested in learning more about their findings from their research, or about recruitment events and opportunities within the college, please contact Dr. Sonia Garcia directly at [email protected].
We all hope that you have been enjoying the holiday season and this break from school and/or work. In the spirit of the upcoming spring recruitment season, I have a short post about how Texas A&M Geosciences was represented at the AGU Fall 2013 Meeting in a different manner. Dr. Sonia Garcia, Director of Undergraduate and Transfer Recruitment and Retention and Dr. Chris Houser, GeoX faculty liaison and professor of geography and geology, presented their poster on the effectiveness of our recruitment programs for high school students on increasing awareness, education and participation in the geosciences. Dr. Garcia, along with help from her graduate assistant Janet Torres, and Dr. Houser and a few of his graduate students, have worked diligently to host the GeoX Summer Exploration program for the past three years. Throughout the years, they have collected and compiled survey responses from participants and their families before and after the week-long summer program to gauge how much students and parents learned from the experience. Responses were recorded and used as the basis for data for the poster presented at this year’s poster session in the geosciences education category.
Garcia, a Ph. D. in Adult and Higher Education from Michigan State University, does not have a background in geosciences, but has been able to learn from faculty and students since joining the college. She developed these programs with the goal of increasing awareness of the growing field of geosciences and has recruited many outstanding students into the college, myself included. Her two main recruitment programs include GeoX, a week-long summer program that gives an in-depth introduction into each of the departments in our college and iGeo, a weekend-long introductory program to the geosciences field. This research study was solely based on the results from the GeoX program from the past three years, where students are given the opportunity to experience college and our programs just as an enrolled student would by staying in on-campus dorms, attending classes, programs and special workshops, participating in interactive activities and conducting their own research projects with current students and faculty.
Overall, the entire program is a huge success, with an average of 62% of participants choosing to attend Texas A&M and enroll in our college. As a product of the iGeo program myself, I can personally attest to the unique experience that these programs offer to high school students. The ability to be able to come into a university and learn from professors and students who are passionate about their fields and willing to help you learn and understand what it is that they do is invaluable to any prospective student, in my opinion. If you are interested in learning more about their findings from their research, or about recruitment events and opportunities within the college, please contact Dr. Sonia Garcia directly at [email protected].