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Jackson State University approved a Coastal Engineering emphasis area for the PhD Engineering degree in April 2018. This is the first Doctoral engineering degree, among Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that emphasizes coastal engineering focused on coastal natural disasters. A Professor serves as Advisor for graduate students (MS and PhD) enrolled in the Coastal Engineering emphasis area. Minimum degree requirements are 72 credit hours beyond the BS degree or 36 credit hours beyond the MS degree, including 24 hours of dissertation research; a comprehensive qualifying examination, a preliminary examination and a final dissertation defense. Graduates are expected to have at least two publications in recognized professional journals upon graduation. There are eight core coastal engineering courses, one mandatory, of which a minimum of four are required. Practically speaking, the advisor will require six to eight of the core courses depending on the dissertation research focus. Tabular data and graphics depict core course enrollments, number of times they were taught and graduates during the last six academic years. Students may choose the remaining elective courses from the other four coastal engineering core courses and a large variety of civil and environmental engineering courses or other closely related courses (i.e. mathematics, computer science, urban planning, etc.), all requiring approval of their advisor. Laboratory experimental facilities and computational facilities potentially available to students for dissertation research are briefly described. Sources for a supply of PhD coastal engineering students are discussed. Professors in all areas of coastal engineering are available and an example of ongoing coastal engineering research is discussed. The programs coastal natural disaster focus is sponsored by the Office of University Programs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS sponsorship is most appropriate in view of Hurricanes Irma, Maria, Harvey, Florence and others within the past twenty four months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of new university engineering degree programs at an HBCU (Jackson State University) revealed that graduation rates (15%) were considerably lower than desired. An aggressive amelioration strategy centered around a ten week (expenses paid) resident summer bridge program for the student population of first time freshman (ftf) engineering majors with ACT Math scores from 17-25 (70% of ftf) was developed and started in summer 2009. Program assessment was accomplished using a control group of all other ftf engineering majors that began the same fall semester with identical ACT Math scores (17-25). The data indicate that there are two distinct populations (relative to graduation performance) within the 17-25 ACT Math score group. They are groups with ACT Math scores of 17-19 and 20-25. Analyses are made using these two subgroups. Summer bridge students (20-25) have a 4 year engineering graduation rate of 41% relative to 17% for the control group (71 and 107 students respectively). Summer bridge students (17-19) have a 4 year engineering graduation rate of 12% relative to 4% for the control group (50 and 119 students respectively). The six year engineering graduation rate for the 20-25 bridge students was 50% relative to 37% for the control group (32 and 54 students respectively). The six year engineering graduation rate for the 17-19 bridge students was 14% relative to 24% for the control group (29 and 49 students respectively). The paper contains comprehensive analyses of the seven summer cohorts (2009 through 2015) of ftf engineering majors including engineering, STEM and university graduation rates, times to graduate and retention rates. The unique parts of this summer bridge program are its 10 week resident length, enrolling students for six semester hours of mathematics college credit, making it cost free for the students and sustainment for eight summers. This paper clearly demonstrates that the program can more than double the engineering graduation rate for the student population with 17-25 ACT Math scores and the majority graduate in four years. To date, 100% of the 232 students in the bridge program are African Americans (not required). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long term ten week residence summer engineering enrichment program for incoming first year engineering majors with ACT Math scores of 17-25 (equivalent SAT Math scores of 470-620; 35%-80%) is exceeding retention/graduation in engineering expectations, especially time to graduate. Relatively unique program aspects are the ten week residence length, 8 semester hours of College credit [College Algebra (3), Trigonometry (3), University Success (2)], zero cost for the student, and 100% underrepresented minorities (not required). The first two cohorts produced twelve (20% or 12/61) 4 year engineering graduates which quadrupled the historical 4 year graduation rate of less than 5%. The five year engineering, STEM and university graduation rates for the first cohort (2009) were 29%, 42%, and 50% respectively. The 2009 and 2010 cohorts produced 19 engineering graduates to date with an average time to graduate of 4.18 years, a reduction of a year in the historical rate. Part of this larger than expected decrease in time to graduate is most likely due to the periodic offering of some upper division required courses in one or two departments due to small student numbers. Additionally, 15/19 (79%) graduates had ACT Math scores of 20-25 and 4/19 (21%) had ACT Math scores of 17-19 with similar numbers in each group (32 and 29 respectively). The program is increasing retention in engineering and increasing graduation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Master of Science degree in Engineering with a Coastal Engineering concentration has been approved, students enrolled and several graduates are scheduled for May 2015. This is the first coastal or ocean engineering graduate program at an Historic Black College or University (HBCU). Students may choose a thesis, project or course only option. All options require an oral examination. Seven core courses, one mandatory, comprise the coastal engineering concentration. The student may select elective courses from among a large variety of civil and environmental engineering graduate courses. This flexibility enables the graduate student to tailor coursework to their major civil engineering area(s) of career interest. Laboratory facilities potentially available to students are briefly described. The program has a coastal natural disaster focus and was established as part of the Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence (Education) sponsored by the Office of University Programs, US Department of Homeland Security. An undergraduate coastal engineering track in the BS Civil Engineering degree program and a Ph.D. in Engineering with a coastal engineering concentration, both with a coastal natural disaster focus, are discussed briefly as a part of future plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sustained summer engineering enrichment program was initiated in 2009 with the objective of increasing graduation rates and decreasing time to graduate for first time freshman with Math ACT scores from 17-25 which comprises the preponderance of our freshman engineering class. The ten week summer program included College Algebra the first summer term, Trigonometry plus an informal non-credit Introduction to Engineering the second summer term, periodic trips to engineering employers, supervised daily study sessions and dormitory accommodations facilitating formation of a community of engineering learners. The first five summer cohorts were attended by 172 engineering majors and 128 or 74% continued in a School of Engineering major in the fall following the summer program. Three or 12.5% of the 24 in the 2009 cohort graduated as engineers in May 2013 (4 years). This compares with a four year graduation rate of less than 5% for all first time freshman engineering majors at our university since the first engineer graduated in May, 2005 (over 300 graduates). Four more students in the 2009 cohort graduated as engineers in December 2013 while two additional students graduated in other STEM majors in December 2013. The overall graduation results for the 2009 cohort to date are that seven, or 29%, graduated as engineers in 4 ½ years and nine or 37.5% graduated in a STEM major in 4 ½ years. Eight 2009 cohort students remain enrolled in the university (3 STEM and 5 non-STEM majors) and seven or 29% of the 2009 cohort have left the university without graduating. An analysis of the 2010 summer cohort reveals that seven students completed Senior Design I in Fall 2013 and are projected to graduate in four years (7/37 or 19%) in May 2014. We believe these emerging graduation rate data imply that first time freshman engineering majors with math ACT scores from 17-25 may achieve six year graduation rates nearly comparable to those with higher scores with the benefit of a summer bridge program focusing on enhancing mathematics readiness and becoming a community of engineering learners. In summary, evidence is emerging (after 5 summer cohorts) that, for first time freshman students in the ACT Math score range from 17-25, we can increase the 4 year graduation rate nearly fourfold from about 5% to 19% and potentially increase the overall engineering graduation rate twofold from about 25% to near 50%. Simultaneously, the average time to graduate is reduced by nearly a year to less than 4 ½ years (from about 5.2 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was the most devastating hurricane to impact the United States coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico with respect to loss of life (8,000-10,000). Half the Galveston buildings were destroyed as a 4.7m surge inundated the island. Island elevations were only 0.9-2.4m above sea level. The engineering feats comprising recovery of the island over the next six years were truly amazing. Every building standing was raised to an elevation of 5.2m above sea level by hydraulic fill. A concrete seawall was constructed to serve as a hurricane barrier (now approximately 16.2km long with six extensions) for the downtown Galveston area. Rapid growth of the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area and Hurricane Ike in 2008 have made the citizens, local governments, and industries acutely aware that a Category 5 severe hurricane surge perhaps six meters plus in elevation such as Katrina or Camille would most likely pose unacceptable threats to life and the rapidly expanding Houston economy. A hurricane protection concept called the Ike Dike has been thrust forward as a means of protecting Galveston Island and the greater Houston metropolitan area from a catastrophic hurricane surge, even more intense than Hurricane Ike or the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. This paper documents graduate student participation in this project. It also includes preliminary results from exploration of this concept with respect to reducing hurricane surge inundation from a catastrophic hurricane to an acceptable level. Results from this project will comprise input to an economic team who will evaluate the economic efficacy of the concept. The graduate student project formulated was for the students to gain experience in investigating surge levels with and without the conceptual project and, most importantly, to gain an appreciation of interdisciplinary teamwork involving both US and international (Netherlands) graduate students and professors. While working under the guidance from professors, four graduate students had key roles in various phases of this high end computational fluid dynamics (CFD) investigation and were key contributors to grid elevations, formulating impact data, analyzing computational output, preparing visuals of the results for project meeting and participating in meetings. Results from the systematic computational investigations of surge level reduction are highly encouraging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]