In the fall of 1995 a new course was introduced into the curriculum of the Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes Department in the College of Engineering at The Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. This new course was designed to give newly entering freshmen an experience with engineering design principles. The new course, designated as ME 110, also sought to expose students to report-writing principles. Included in the content were sections on word processing, spread sheet operations, presentation preparation, and team design principles. These skills are recognized as important to student success in more advanced engineering courses. The course also helped students to interact with engineering faculty, explore the various aspects of an engineering career, and feel welcome in the department. It was hoped that an earlier exposure to engineering would encourage students to maintain mechanical engineering as a declared major. The foremost problem with retention of freshmen students centered on their success in chemistry and calculus. Success rates in these courses have been followed for five years. Prior to the introduction of ME 110 success rates, defined as C or better, were in the low 40% for calculus. Since the introduction of the course, the success rate in calculus has risen to 60% and is far above the mean for other engineering majors and the overall mean of all students. Details will be discussed in the paper.

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