Brad Jacobs has always wanted to attend LSU. He would be the fourth generation of Tigers in his family. But grades and military deployment overseas kept him from that goal.
Now, thanks to the “BRCC to LSU Engineering Pathway to Success” program, he is on his way from Baton Rouge Community College engineering student to LSU graduate.
“I decided to go to BRCC for a year to get my grades up,” Jacobs said. “I have always found engineering interesting and usually wonder how things work. I found out about the AS to BS program after meeting Kerry Reed [BRCC faculty member] and found it very interesting.”
Jacobs will receive a scholarship to aid his transition to LSU, thanks to a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support 35 eligible BRCC engineering students transferring to the University.
About half the students involved are military veterans looking to join an engineering field, according to a University news release.
The program makes the LSU engineering program more affordable and attainable to students previously unable to enter the program.
College of Engineering Dean Richard Koubek said BRCC students’ goals align with those of LSU students — they just took a different path to become Tigers.
Koubek said the University strives to make sure the engineering program is not a different world than transfer students expect.
“LSU’s interest is making sure when students transfer from BRCC, they can be successful here,” Koubek said.
The College of Engineering has helped BRCC’s engineering professors develop coursework, offered advice on test information and shared notes from LSU’s core engineering courses, Koubek said.
The BRCC faculty have even been invited to participate in LSU faculty workshops.
“It’s not just an articulation agreement where we’ll count these courses. It’s really about a partnership,” Koubek said. “You’re ultimately our graduate at the end of the day.”
Faculty from both schools worked together to write a proposal to the National Science Foundation to receive grant money. Koubek said the grant is a “vote of confidence from external reviewers.”
Kelly A. Rusch, associate dean of the College of Engineering and the grant’s principal investigator, said in a news release that the program will provide opportunities to a diverse group including those who may be non-traditional, underrepresented or first-generation students.
“The focus of the project is to provide a model for blending recruitment, retention and placement into an integrated and
comprehensive program that promotes student success in transitioning from the community college to LSU,” Rusch said in the release.
Koubek said the College of Engineering and BRCC will sign a similar agreement for a construction management program within the next few weeks.
 
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Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]