Session T1B
Galipatia Upper-Class Leaders: Innovative Peers in
Action
Cynthia Hampton, Adrien DeLoach
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract - Over the past several decades, scholars have
suggested that efforts directed toward mitigating student
attrition and promoting academic success should be
shared mutually by the institution and learners. As a
result, faculty members and administrators have
employed a plethora of student-centered strategies to
enhance the scholastic experiences of their students.
Many initiatives and assessments only include
programming that caters to students at the beginning
and end of their undergraduate careers. However,
increasing challenges for sophomores and juniors during
what is referred to as the “middle years” has led to the
need for establishing opportunities for these students to
become more actively involved in social and academic
networks, particularly for engineering majors. Through
themed living options and residential mentor programs,
upper-class students are often empowered to develop as
leaders and facilitate change in the educational
environments where they share connections. This paper
will examine infrastructural components of the
leadership team that supports the Galipatia Living
Learning Community geared towards first-year
engineering students at Virginia Tech. The network
consists of former male and female participants ranging
from sophomores to seniors who serve as mentors,
committee members, and at-large team leaders, and who
have all maintained a lasting commitment to further the
program’s outcomes.
Index Terms – Leadership, living-learning community, peersupport
of the institution in integrating the student into academic
and social systems (Tinto, 1982) is critical. Relatedly,
student persistence relies not only on the commitment of the
student, but also the commitment of the institution (Tinto,
1997). Empowering and engaging students during their
middle years is crucial for their successful obtainment of an
undergraduate degree (Hunter, 2009). Engaging students
outside of the classroom and building purpose through peer
relationships have been cited as critical connections during
this formative period. Providing an adequate environment
for sophomore and junior level students to develop purpose
and cultivate engagement can prove to be problematic due
to the burden of necessary coursework and limited time for
involvement of activities outside required curriculum.
One such environment situated in a residential livinglearning community provides necessary opportunities for
the engagement, purpose, and ownership of sophomore and
junior students. Developed for first-year students, the
Galileo and Hypatia (Galipatia) Engineering Living
Learning Community has been transformed into an awardwinning space through the direct work of returning students
wanting to make a difference. Due to their efforts, the
community has grown from its original 52 Hypatia first-year
participants to current numbers of 174 Hypatia first-year
participants and 267 Galileo first-year participants.
Galipatia upper class leaders (Galipatia Committee
Members, Galipatia Mentors, Galipatia Leadership Team
members, and inVenTs Leadership Team members) include
65 Hypatia participants and 85 Galileo participants who
have continued their involvement beyond the first-year.
BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION
Challenges arise for sophomores and juniors in navigating
the academic and social waters of an undergraduate
engineering degree. The period of time often referred to as
the “middle years” is overlooked in favor of programming
and assessment at the bookends of the undergraduate
degree, the first and senior year. Due to the potential
attrition during the first two years of study (Brainard &
Carlin, 1997; Goodman, 2002; Huang & Brainard, 2001;
Tinto, 1987) it is imperative that additional time and
resources are focused in maximizing the opportunity for
student-focused programming that allows successful
building of academic and social networks. Although
student integration and attrition have been linked to both the
individual student as well as the institution, the importance
inVenTs
The inVenTs Residential Community (imagining,
discovering, and creating the future) provides an
interdisciplinary science and engineering living-learning
community space for students to interact through planned
activities and a state-of-the-art design lab that develop
social, professional, and academic skills. The inVenTs
community is comprised of four academically themed
living-learning communities:
Mid Years Engineering Experience (MYEE) Conference
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Hypatia Women in Engineering Learning
Community (Hypatia)
Galileo Engineering Learning Community for Men
(Galileo)
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Session T1B
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DaVinci Biological and Life Sciences Learning
Community (DaVinci)
Curie Learning Community for Physical and
Quantitative Sciences (Curie)
The communities above are located in one residence
hall and separated on different floors. Residents are
provided opportunities to network and collaborate with one
another through planned social activities and a design lab
(Studio 1) equipped with technology including a 3-D
printer, laser-cutter, and modeling software. Studio 1 is
staffed with graduate students and upper class leaders
trained in the use of the lab equipment who also plan social
activities for residents to design using the technology.
Historically, the inVenTs Residential Community grew
from two established communities, Hypatia Women in
Engineering Learning Community and DaVinci Biological
and Life Sciences Learning Community. Hypatia was
founded in 2001 through the Center for the Enhancement of
Engineering Diversity (CEED), Hypatia’s purpose was to
bring together first-year women in engineering by providing
an environment and community of encouragement and
support. A lack of sense of community as well as a lack of
social acceptance has been shown to be barriers in women
and underrepresented minorities’ retention in undergraduate
engineering (Goodman, 2002; Linn & Kessel, 1996). The
community was and still is now, heavily dependent on the
idea of peer-to-peer support.
Participants were clustered in their chemistry, math,
chemistry lab, and engineering explorations courses to allow
familiar faces in their classes. A two-credit seminar course
was also implemented to provide professional and academic
skills development. Hypatia proved to be successful in
fighting attrition of women engineers, showing a 90 percent
retention rate among its residents for the Fall 2013 class,
17.5 percent more than females who had not joined the
Hypatia community (CEED, 2013).
In 2004, Dr. Bevlee Watford, Associate Dean for
Academic Affairs for the College of Engineering and
Director of CEED, proposed a male engineering community
that would serve as a counterpart for Hypatia. The
counterpart, Galileo, introduced its first group in the fall of
2005. The combined groups would collectively be known
as Galipatia. In 2010, a National Science Foundation (NSF)
proposal was submitted through collaboration between the
College of Science and the College of Engineering to
increase the retention of Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math (STEM) students based on the successes of the
Galipatia communities. The NSF proposal was approved,
and the Curie Learning Community was established. An
organizational
hierarchy
can
be
found
at
https://prezi.com/embed/lbr33t6npvea/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp
;lock_to_path=0&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0.
Student Leadership Team
The Galipatia community from its beginnings has relied
heavily on the involvement of peer interaction and
mentoring. In 2006, sophomore student mentors within
Galipatia wanted to provide ownership and impact how the
future of the program would progress. After director
approval, students formed the Student Leadership Team.
Responsibilities included taking ownership of the four
planning areas encompassing social activities, academic and
professional development, community service, and
announcements.
The Student Leadership Team now
operates on a nominal budget, primarily to pay a stipend to
mentors and to cover the cost of transportation for service
activities. This team later grew into several groups;
Galipatia Committee Members, Galipatia Mentors,
Galipatia Leadership Team (GLT), and inVenTs Leadership
Team (ILT).
GALIPATIA LEADERS
In serving on a team in these roles, Galipatia Committee
Members gain valuable experience in teamwork, effectivecommunication, and flexible planning to accommodate the
needs of the community as a whole. These experiences are
essential in cultivating professional skills as outlined in
Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology, Inc.
(ABET) Criterion 3 (d, f, and g). This cultivation can shed
light on the current state of attempting to teach professional
skills in the current context of engineering education
(Shuman, Besterfield‐ Sacre, & McGourty, 2005).
However, the role of the Galipatia Leaders goes far beyond
mentoring, and into the actual operation of the Galipatia
Community. In order to understand these roles, application
process, and hierarchy of the leaders, the following provides
a synopsis of the Galipatia Leaders.
Galipatia Committee Members
First-year Galipatia students are given the opportunity to
apply to become a second-year member in the community at
the end of their first semester, with duties beginning the fall
semester of their sophomore year. At this time, applicants
choose from one of the six student ran planning committees,
which include:
Mid Years Engineering Experience (MYEE) Conference
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Academic Support – Responsible for holding
regular homework help hours to assist students
with homework, leading, and organizing review
sessions for first-year specific courses such as
calculus, chemistry, and physics;
Professional Development – Responsible for
hosting events to prepare for career fairs, hosting
workshops to help prepare students for various
professional aspects of college and industry such as
industry-sponsored networking events;
March 22 – 24, 2015, College Station, TX
Session T1B
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Social – Responsible for planning and organizing
events for students to interact and meet each other
outside of class, such as an annual Halloween
party;
Communications – Duties include collecting
information from the other committees to distribute
to first-year students in a weekly email, weekly
newsletter, Google calendar, and Facebook page as
well as collecting information and photos for
website updates;
Service Learning – Responsible for the planning
and organizing of community service activities for
the community;
Outreach – Duties include the planning and
organizing of K-12 outreach efforts including
hands-on activities for students to learn about
engineering and hosting school visits on campus.
Committee Member applications are reviewed by
CEED staff as well as members of the other three leadership
teams (Mentors, GLT, and ILT). Committee Members are
required to attend a weekly meeting for the fall and spring
semester starting their sophomore year.
Second-year
Galipatia participants are required to serve on a planning
committee. Students may reapply to continue serving on
Galipatia Committees beyond their second-year.
Galipatia Mentors
The use of peer mentors has been a major component
starting in 2011. Research linking the importance of peer
mentoring and success in institutional navigation has shown
success in student’s comfort in approaching peers as
opposed to faculty (Meyers, Silliman, Gedde, & Ohland,
2010).
The Galipatia Mentors serve as the point of contact for
their assigned mentees. Mentors are assigned five to ten
first-year students. Weekly meetings with assigned mentees
occur for the first ten weeks of the fall semester as well as
informal times in the dormitory to serve as a resource for
advice ranging from course selection to interactions with
advisors to personal issues. Mentors are paid a nominal
stipend, which is dependent upon successful completion of
weekly meetings and reports. Additionally, mentors are
assigned a Galipatia Leadership Team member with whom
they meet once per week as an upper-class resource for
topics to discuss with mentees and any issues that may arise
in which they need additional mentoring advice. Applicants
starting their second-year (usually sophomore) may apply
for a mentor position, but will also serve as a Galipatia
Committee Member, as this is required of all returning
second-year participants in the community.
and have served as a mentor and committee member during
their second year are eligible to apply. Current GLT
members and CEED staff determine selection of the GLT
applicants. The GLT serves a three-semester term and can
be asked to serve additional terms based on performance.
The GLT is divided into two distinct areas of focus and
related tasks:


Mentoring Team – Serves as mentors to first-year
mentors, meet with mentors for the first ten weeks
of the fall semester, read weekly mentor reports
and provide feedback, assist with developing
mentor training, ensure mentors make first contact
with mentees
Committee Liaison – Serves as facilitator of
assigned committee meetings as well as assists
committee in executing responsibilities, as well as
submitting a semester final report of activities and
events planned by committees.
inVenTs Leadership Team (ILT)
The ILT is comprised of upper class students who have
participated in one to the communities within inVenTs
(Hypatia, Galileo, Curie, or DaVinci). ILT members are
selected by current inVenTs members and support staff, are
required to serve a three semester term, and can be asked to
serve more than one term based on their performance. The
main responsibilities of the interdisciplinary ILT is to assist
in staffing the Studio 1 space, organize and implement
innovation activities, and help in promoting the community
to incoming students and corporate partners. ILT members
have the unique opportunity of collaborating on an
interdisciplinary team as well as coordinating directly with
industry, faculty, and entrepreneurs. These initiatives allow
the ILT to connect with faculty as well as represent the
community and its accomplishments. Integration of these
experiences is pivotal in improving sophomore student
success (Hunter, 2009) as well as developing
interdisciplinary teamwork skills outlined in ABET
Criterion 3 (Shuman et al., 2005). Figure 1 shows the
hierarchy of the Galipatia Leaders.
Galipatia Leadership Team (GLT)
The GLT serves as the upper-class leadership for the
mentors and committee members. Upper-class students
who have participated in the first-year Galipatia community
Mid Years Engineering Experience (MYEE) Conference
T1B-3
FIGURE 1
HIERARCHY OF GALIPATIA LEADERS.
March 22 – 24, 2015, College Station, TX
Session T1B
DISCUSSION
The common thread of these positions is their ability to
provide sophomore and junior students with leadership
opportunities to truly gain ownership and impart change in a
community with which they share a connection. Various
positions of leadership are essentially provided “in house”,
cycling within a network of mentors, committee members,
and leadership teams. Recommendations, suggestions,
failed events, successful initiatives, seminar topics, are all
cycled as well from first-year participants, to leaders, to
planners, to facilitators allowing for continual growth. This
characteristic of the Galipatia Community is what allows it
to thrive and continuously evolve to meet the needs of its
most important asset, the Galipatia participants. Leaders are
able to witness firsthand the changes, revisions, and impacts
of their teamwork on a community similar to themselves.
The roles of the Galipatia Leaders can best be described as
being a functionalist role approach of contemporary
leadership theory which focuses on the social network that
the individual (leader) is embedded in, specifically an
environment in which only requirements of the system or
organization are important. Roles, leader or member, do not
matter as much as the actual task that is being completed
(Winkler, 2010). For any engineering student, this is a
placing their problem solving in a societal context, along
with a professional and ethical understanding of their
collective decisions. Past participants who continue their
involvement in the Galipatia Community into their
sophomore and junior years as well as beyond, express the
need to “help improve”, “bring my passion”, and “make a
difference” (CEED, 2013). The Galipatia Leaders take
ownership of the community, allowing for empowerment
and engagement that is critical for their own continued
success.
[5]
Linn, M. C., & Kessel, C. (1996). Success in mathematics: Increasing
talent and gender diversity among college majors. CBMS Issues in
Mathematics Education, 6, 101-144.
[6]
Meyers, K. L., Silliman, S. E., Gedde, N. L., & Ohland, M. W.
(2010). A Comparison of Engineering Students' Reflections on Their
First‐ Year Experiences. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(2),
169-178.
[7]
Shuman, L. J., Besterfield‐ Sacre, M., & McGourty, J. (2005). The
ABET “professional skills”—Can they be taught? Can they be
assessed? Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 41-55.
[8]
Tinto, V. (1982). Limits of theory and practice in student attrition.
The journal of higher education, 687-700.
[9]
Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of
student attrition: ERIC.
[10] Tinto, V. (1997). Colleges as communities: Taking research on
student persistence seriously. The review of higher education, 21(2),
167-177.
[11] Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories: Enhancing the
understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of
leadership: Springer Science & Business Media.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
If your paper has multiple authors, use this section to list
author information. For Example:
Cynthia Hampton, Student Support and Program Staff,
CEED, Virginia Tech, [email protected]
Adrien DeLoach, Student Support and Program Staff,
CEED, Virginia Tech, [email protected]
ACKNOWLEGDEMENT
The authors would like to thank the Center for the
Enhancement of Engineering Diversity for providing
historical and ongoing information of the Galipatia program.
REFERENCES
[1]
Brainard, S. G., & Carlin, L. (1997). A longitudinal study of
undergraduate women in engineering and science. Paper presented at
the Frontiers in Education Conference, 1997. 27th Annual
Conference. Teaching and Learning in an Era of Change.
Proceedings.
[2]
Goodman, I. F. (2002). Final Report of the Women's Experiences in
College Engineering (WECE) Project. Online Submission..
[3]
Huang, P. M., & Brainard, S. G. (2001). Identifying determinants of
academic selfconfidence among science, math, engineering, and
technology students. Journal of women and minorities in science and
engineering, 7(4).
[4]
Hunter, M. S. (2009). Helping sophomores succeed: Understanding
and improving the second year experience: John Wiley & Sons.
Mid Years Engineering Experience (MYEE) Conference
T1B-4
March 22 – 24, 2015, College Station, TX