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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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 6/23/95                     Mitch Emmons

AUBURN MITE PROGRAM PROMOTES COLLEGE AND TECHNICAL CAREERS
     AUBURN -- About 75 academically talented minority students are
at  Auburn University this summer to experience college life and
gain  hands-on technically oriented education.
     The high school students are participants in AU's 18th annual 
MITE program,  which is sponsored by the College of Engineering.
The  program concludes July 22.
     MITE (Minority Introduction to Engineering) exposes the
students  to the college environment and offers personalized
experiences in  engineering studies and activities.
      Students are selected to participate through an application 
process and must be of an "American-born minority group," says MITE 
coordinator Rod Jenkins, a professor in the Department of Civil
Engineering.
     "We hope the program will encourage these young people to
attend  college," says Jenkins. "We would like for them to consider
coming to  Auburn, and also to study engineering, but our number
one objective is to  encourage them to go to college."
     About half of the MITE participants do go on to college,
Jenkins adds.
     "About half of them come to Auburn, and half of those who come
to  Auburn go into an engineering program,"  he said.
     During MITE sessions, students receive classroom training in
such  areas as computer science and mathematics. They are
introduced to the  various engineering disciplines offered at AU,
and they receive  information about other university curriculums.
     "Many of them . . . even though the MITE program is associated 
with engineering . . . are interested in fields other than
engineering,"  Jenkins says. "So while we don't have specific
activities (outside  engineering) for those students we don't
discourage them from any program  on campus."
     To get a genuine feel of campus life, MITE students live in AU 
dormitories, eat in the cafeterias and are provided a variety of 
recreational activities.
     The College of Engineering sends information about MITE to
high  school counselors throughout the Southeast. Consequently,
most  participants are from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and
Tennessee. This  year's program has also attracted a student from
Maryland.
     MITE is funded by contributions from industry, foundations and 
the university. The only cost to participants is transportation to
and  from campus.
     More than 700 students have participated in MITE since it
began  in 1978.
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june95:AU-mite
               CONTACT: Jenkins, 334/844-6271; or Tom Shumpert,
334/844-1867.