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According to Won, the College is also establishing a professional learning community both to provide input on development of the FYrE model and to help with adoption of the model outside ECST. During the grant period, the College will pilot the program with a small group of irst- year students, with the intention of establishing a model that other STEM ields can adopt.“FYrE@ECST integrates activities expected to strengthen competence in math and physics and build professional identity as engineers, computer scientists, and technologists,” she says. “We predict that the combination of these high- impact, evidence-based practices into FYrE will have a synergistic affect on student success, better preparing them for their respective degree program curricula and eventually boost the number of STEM degree holders graduating from our College.”Setting a Cutting-Edge Course“We are creating a new three-unit, active learning, project- based lecture and lab class that will include a hands-on learning project, exposing students to the engineering and technology disciplines,” says Mark Tufenkjian, professor of civil engineering and part of the FYrE@ECST steering committee. “Built with an ocean theme, the new course will provide students experience practicing the design process for mini ROVs and introduce them to various ields within our College.”Tufenkjian says the design project will be lexible and have many potential extensions that student teams can explore.“For example, the ROV propeller may be designed and modeled with software and built using a 3-D printer,” he explains. “And many aspects of Southern California’s ocean and ocean economy will be integrated into the course. The project will also provide a culminating competitive experience in which the student design teams will testtheir ROVs in the campus swimming pool.”The laboratory component will be a large part of this course, so in addition to the grant funding, the College is fundraising for an additional $2 million to fully equip and renovate a lab that will serve 300 to 400 freshmen each year.“It would function like a Makerspace, with tools, workstations, and 3-D printers, so students can make their own parts for their projects,” says Emily Allen, dean of the College.Just months after the grant program began in November 2014, the initiatives garnered encouraging feedback and excitement from members of the College community, says Won. “Most of the individual components are high-impact practices borrowed from other institutions that have successfully implemented them,” she says. “But the complete integrated experience is unique.”“We already have a highly successful summer bridge program, Summer Transition to ECST Programs (STEP), which is an essential part of FYrE@ECST,” says Frances Hidalgo, director of the ECST Student Success Center. “Last summer, we had 315 incoming freshmen in our summer program, which focuses on enhancing math skills and acquainting students with the College. Offering a irst year course that follows directly from STEP will really cement the students’ commitment to their major.” •InSights | 7PARTNERING WITHTHE U.S. NAVYCaptain Eric H. Ver Hage, U.S. Navy, Commanding Oficer, NSWC, Corona Division, presented a certiicate of appreciation to Jiang Guo, professor of computer science, and his team member CSULA Computer Science graduate student Nehemiah Clark, for their signiicant contribution to the development of the WISS v5for the U.S. Navy.