REU sites: Much more than a research experience for undergraduates

Undergraduate research is one of the most important recommended vehicles to address current educational concerns in Science and Engineering, such as high dropout rates, low graduation rates, and low enrollment in graduate programs. In this paper we describe our experience running an NSF-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site in Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E), an area where these problems have been recently exacerbated and where under-represented minority student groups with important growth rates have had a very low participation. The most important aspects that need to be included in these programs to address these concerns and some other initiatives that can bring additional benefits at low cost are also described. For each of these aspects, successful strategies or best practices are included. Finally, the effectiveness of the program is demonstrated with the results of the program evaluation.