The goal of the Washington STate Academic RedShirt (STARS) Program is to help ensure students from economically and academically disadvantaged backgrounds are able to complete degrees in either engineering or computer science. Similar to providing a "redshirt year" to talented athletes who arrive at college not quite ready to compete at the collegiate level, the STARS program is designed to provide additional time and resources to students who are admitted to college and yet may not be fully prepared to succeed in a four-year engineering or computer science degree program. To help ensure their success, STARS students obtain additional instruction, high-touch advising ("coaching"), scholarships, and integration into a supportive social structure.
The STARS programs, which was modeled after the University of Colorado GoldShirt Program, is offered at both the University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU), the state's two leading universities. Both schools have a Carnegie classification of very high research activity but, in general, admit students with different levels of prior academic success (WSU is the state's land-grant institution while UW is one of the nation's leading research institutions). Now entering its third year, in this paper we discuss the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the STARS program. We also discuss the aspects of the STARS program that are common across the two institutions and what features are unique to each institution.
Katherine directs the STARS program at Washington State University. She has a master's in mathematics education.
Eve Riskin received her BS degree in Electrical Engineering from
M.I.T. and her graduate degrees in EE from Stanford. Since 1990, she
has been in the EE Department at the University of Washington where
she is now Associate Dean of Diversity and Access in the College of
Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the
ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change. With ADVANCE, she works on
mentoring and leadership development programs for women faculty in
STEM. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, a
Sloan Research Fellowship, the 2006 WEPAN University Change Agent
award, the 2006 Hewlett-Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award, and the 2007
University of Washington David B. Thorud Leadership Award.
She is a Fellow of the IEEE.
John Schneider is an associate professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. He has been with WSU since 1991. He con
Sonya Cunningham has over 15 years of success in higher education leadership - directing, managing and supporting critical initiatives, working with diverse student populations, colleagues and academic departments. Currently she serves as Co-Principal Investigator and the Executive Director for the Washington STate Academic RedShirt Program (STARS). STARS aims to increase the retention rate of economically and educationally disadvantaged students in engineering and computer science. Deeply passionate about equity, access and inclusion, most of her higher education experience has involved supporting students from under-served backgrounds and helping institutions improve in this area. Recipient of the University of Washington David B. Thorud Leadership Award.
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