Bridging the Gap

BY PAM REYNOLDS

Summer Bridge students get a jump-start on campus life

THE SUMMER BRIDGE PROGRAM PREPARES INCOMING FRESHMEN TO SUCCEED IN OSU’S COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, AND TECHNOLOGY. STUDENTS IN SUMMER BRIDGE SAY THE PROGRAM MAKES THEIR TRANSITION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE EASIER. THE RECENT GROWTH OF THE PROGRAM HAS ALLOWED MORE INCOMING FRESHMEN TO GET A HEAD START ON COLLEGE.

“We want to expose the students to all the things they need to know in our college while they’re here so when school starts they are ahead of the game,” says Lance Millis, director of CEAT student academic services. “By the time classes start, they already know their way around. We get them ready academically and connect them to the campus socially and geographically.”

Summer Bridge is an 18-day residential, on-campus program packed with activities to prepare incoming students for the rigors of college.

Students take classes during the mornings, including chemistry, pre-calculus and English composition. The instructors provide a review of what the students should have already learned in high school, as well as introduce the students to what they will be expected to do in college.

In the afternoons, students work on engineering design projects. The design projects in 2015 were provided by the CEAT departments of civil engineering, industrial engineering, chemical engineering and aerospace and mechanical eEngineering. Each student had to complete three of the four design projects.

The program also includes industry tours and presentations from various organizations on campus. Colton Tubbs, a freshman in mechanical engineering, is one of 20 current students serving on the CEAT Freshmen Council.

“I learned about CEAT Freshmen Council during Summer Bridge and then applied for it once the semester started,” says Tubbs. “I probably wouldn’t have applied for it if I hadn’t gone to Bridge. The first week of Summer Bridge, you’re wandering around dazed just trying to catch up. I would have been the same way my first week of my freshman year if I hadn’t been in Bridge. I wouldn’t have thought, ‘Hey, I can go do that, and I should go do that.’”

Many CEAT students in Summer Bridge say that meeting people and becoming familiar with the campus have been extremely beneficial.

Masen Stewart, a freshman in chemical engineering, says friendships he made in Summer Bridge have continued.

“Currently, there are six or seven Bridge students in my physics class,” says Stewart. “So if we need help, we know who we can go to. We can bounce ideas off of each other and figure out what’s going on.”

Isaiah Chitica, a junior in civil engineering, says he still connects with students, advisers and professors he met in Summer Bridge nearly three years ago.

“By the time I came here my first semester, I knew people and knew where the facilities were and where to go for the bursar or other services, which was a big concern since I’m not from Oklahoma,” says Chitica.

Statistics show that Summer Bridge helps students stay in college. The retention rate for Summer Bridge students is 88 percent, compared with OSU’s student retention rate of 81.5 percent.

An awards banquet is held at the end of Summer Bridge. Scholarships are presented to the top performers in the classes and engineering design projects. In 2015, approximately $10,000 in scholarship funds was split among a dozen students.

“It’s important to note that the staff members we hire for this program are current CEAT students, some of whom participated in Summer Bridge when they were coming into school,” says Millis. “They are mentors, counselors and guides who also help tutor Bridge participants during study hall. The participants hear from the counselors what it’s like to be a student and how to prepare.”

Myriah Worthen attended Summer Bridge in 2013 and worked as a counselor for the program in 2015. She is currently a junior in architecture.

“I met a lot of people who were invested in me and the other people in the class,” says Worthen. “It lets you know there are people there to help you. So it made me want to give back and be a counselor. I really like being a mentor and connecting with other people. I like letting them know this is possible; you’re going to make it. You don’t have to be scared.”

Sponsorship from several companies has allowed the program to grow. Most Summer Bridge attendees receive scholarships to help cover the $1,500 cost per person for housing, meals, curriculum, transportation and other activities and supplies during the program.