The Engineering Science Success Academy Case Study

The Engineering Science Success Academy (ESSA) is a seven-week summer bridge program hosted by the Diversity Program Office in the college of engineering in conjunction with the College of Natural Science and Lyman Briggs. The primary objective of ESSA is to prepare students for careers in engineering and the Natural Sciences. While the secondary objective of the program is to help accumulate students to the demands of college life. ESSA was founded by Theo Caldwell, the director of the Diversity Program Office at the college of engineering. Mr. Caldwell founded ESSA in 2006 as a way to promote diversity in the college of engineering and natural sciences. He wanted the program to inspire students to major in STEM fields. I asked him if he expected
the ESSA program to have its own culture and artifact, he replied: “No, I didn’t think ESSA would be this big and affect the lives of so many students and I didn’t know that the ESSA shirt would come to represent their struggle and hard work.”