RETAINING ENGINEERING STUDENTS THROUGH A J-TERM GERMAN IMMERSION STUDY TOUR

The International Engineering Program (IEP) organizes a 10-14 day German Study Tour during January break.It offers International Engineering and International Business students a fullimmersion program to further expand and extend their study of German language and culture.At the same time, it is a great incentive for students enrolled in URI's 5 year dual degree German IEP program, working towards a B.S. in an engineering discipline, and a B.A. in German.Students in this program spend their 4 th year studying and interning abroad.The IEP has a demanding curriculum, and the annual study tour is one of its most effective tools to retain these students who go the extra mile.It serves several purposes: firstly, it introduces students to Germany as an attractive site for science, technology and culture.Highlights of the study tour are visits to German companies as a means of preparing students for their internships in the 4 th year.At companies such as Bayer, BMW, Conti, Hilti, Lufthansa Technik, Siemens, or ZF students can use power tools, and admire transmission systems or classical car collections.Secondly, students tour science and art museums, and historical sites to get immersed into the culture.Thirdly, they use their budding language skills to talk to their German counterparts while visiting institute labs at our partner university.Lastly, students use their teamwork, language and problem solving skills to contribute to a case study sponsored by a company.They work in teams with young trainees from the German Rail company (Deutsche Bahn) on solving a real world problem, e.g.designing new cars for a the next generation of InterCityExpress train taking into consideration the technical specifications, customer demands and budget restrictions, or finding the best logistics solution for transportation of goods from Germany to Italy via rail, truck, or ship.The German Study Tour is an effective and attractive tool for retaining students in the IEP, reaching out to our industrial partners, and recruiting freshmen into the program.This innovative study module also closely ties in with the regular curricular offerings in the German department and with URI's strong focus on globalizing the curriculum, e.g. the Academic Plan's focus area on "Global Citizenry" [1].The Study Tour is usually organized by the director of the IEP who can take advantage of the program's extensive company network for scheduling corporate visits and tours.Outside funding comes from the German Academic Exchange Service where faculty can apply for a group study visit [2] which supports up to 15 students and one faculty for up to 12 days with a maximum of 9.600 Euros.Additional support comes from the Van Meeteren Foundation [3].We are keeping the costs low overall since we are staying in youth hostels and use public transportation whenever possible.Thus student charges are kept at a minimum which