Summer Program Keeping Students on TRACK

Engineering management sophomore Giovanni Walls had a difficult first year at the University of Arizona. He contracted COVID-19 and took a medical exemption for the spring semester, earning no credits for the term. That left him with a lot of catching up to do in summer 2022, so he was unsure about continuing in engineering. Walls not only earned 11 credits and caught up with the help of the Summer TRACK program, he also locked in an engineering major.

These days Walls is enthusiastic about earning a degree from SIE. And he is serving as a peer mentor for the College of Engineering’s ENGAGED program, a suite of services that includes Summer TRACK.

“It’s an amazing program,” he said. “It showed me there are people in the College of Engineering who are willing to support you and your career and your education.”

To ensure students are set up for success going into their second year, Summer TRACK offers physics and Calculus 2 as well as a career development class. Students learn about professional competencies, leadership and the roles of engineers.

They begin to connect their coursework to careers. In fact, guest speakers in the career development class, many of whom were alums, inspired Walls’ choice of major.

“It gave a fresh look at the career aspect instead of the academics. The academics tire you out a lot,” he said.