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Aileen Hentz (left), Program Director of Academic and Student Services, with Iowa State University colleague Rachel Smith at the 2025 American Society for Engineering Education’s First-Year Engineering Experience Conference. |
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Helping new students find their footing in engineering is no small task—and it often takes a strong network to make it happen. At the University of Maryland (UMD),Aileen Hentz Program Director of Academic and Student Services in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, along with Iowa State University Rachel Smith and Thaddeus Hill developed a data-driven study examining how first-year students form and strengthen those vital connections.
Their resulting paper, “Network-Based Reflection to Support First-Year Engineering Students,” earned the team first place at the American Society for Engineering Education’s First-Year Engineering Experience Conference, held this summer on the UMD campus. The study explored how structured reflection activities can help first-year engineering students recognize, develop, and expand their academic and social support networks.
“Strong networks can help students achieve more success in attaining their personal and academic goals,” explained Hentz. “However, not all students have access to the same resources, so it's helpful to learn about students' networks and better understand how they feel connected and where they could use some additional support.”
Using a web-based tool (Network Canvas), the team surveyed more than 70 aerospace engineering students in ENAE100, a first-year introductory course, to identify the people who supported them in college, the types of support provided, and where gaps existed. The activity not only encouraged students to think strategically about relationships that influence their success but also provided faculty and advisors with valuable insights into how to strengthen departmental programs and mentoring.
The study found that first-year engineering students who developed networks that blended academic and social support reported a stronger sense of belonging in their major, underscoring the connection between community and retention.
“The data shows freshmen want to include faculty in their networks but are intimidated and unsure of how to do so,” added Hentz. “This is where we as practitioners can help: By coming up with ideas to help strengthen our students' networks.”
By using their network-based reflection activity, an activity that can be adapted across disciplines, the researchers offered a model that not only encourages students to reflect on and expand their own support systems, but also gives advisors and faculty data to design more inclusive and intentional student programs.
“One way we plan to do this in the aerospace engineering department here at Maryland, is to start a lunch and learn program featuring faculty,” said Hentz. “Students get the chance to interact with faculty in an informal setting and learn more about them as individuals and not just professors.”
The team is continuing to refine their work after two conference presentations in 2025, and are planning additional presentations for 2026, as well as potentially incorporating additional course and student data into their research.
Hentz has over twenty years of experience working as a student service professional. In the aerospace engineering department at Maryland, she oversees both the undergraduate and graduate programs, and has led efforts to expand research programs, peer mentoring, and curriculum innovations as well as the department's key student support and advising programs.
She holds a Ph.D. from UMD's Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, her M.Ed. in College Student Affairs from Pennsylvania State University, and her B.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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