APPLICATION FOR CORE INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP IN THE CIRTL NETWORK (for Viewing Only)

Submitted by kabarnicle on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 7:30pm

Supporting information for the application and an editable file for download can be found at www.cirtl.net/expansion

Maximum page length = 12, with 12 pt font

 

Institutional Leadership:

Each university must identify an Institutional CIRTL Leader and at least one Co-Leader. The Institutional CIRTL Leader should be a STEM faculty member. One of the Co-Leaders should be the person administering day-to-day operations of the local CIRTL learning community.

Institutional CIRTL Leader (primary responsibility for success; primary contact):

  • Name
  • Position
  • Email
  • Telephone
  • Fax
  • Address

Note: We presume that the Institutional CIRTL Leader is also the primary contact for this application.

Co-CIRTL Leaders (administrators, STEM faculty members, academic staff members):

  • Name
  • Position
  • Email
  • Telephone
  • Fax

Please upload NSF-style 2-page CVs for each of the above people. (Description of biosketch)


University Official (person who is authorized to commit university to the CIRTL Network):

  • Name
  • Position
  • Email
  • Telephone
  • Fax
  • Address

 

Characteristics of Your University


Core Institutional Members must be active in granting doctoral degrees in at least several STEM fields.

  1. How many Ph.D.’s in STEM fields did your university grant in 2010?
  2. What STEM doctoral programs at your university will participate in CIRTL initially?


Each Core Institutional Member is a valuable resource to the CIRTL Network. Building diversity in various characteristics across the participating universities will improve the Network outcomes.

  1. What are your university’s distinctive characteristics that are relevant to the CIRTL Network and to the preparation of the future national STEM faculty?
  2. How will you connect those characteristics to the preparation of future faculty?

 

What professional development opportunities, particularly concerning preparation for teaching and learning, are currently available at your university for future faculty (i.e., graduate students and post-doctoral fellows)?

  1. For up to 5 programs most closely related to the CIRTL mission, please provide the following:

* A brief description of the program (with URL if available).
* Where the program is located within the structure of the university.
* The annual number of future faculty involved in the program.
* Evidence of impact and success.

  1. Has your university been involved with other national programs for preparing future faculty? Please explain briefly the nature of the program, when you were involved (e.g. PFF 6 years ago), and the nature of your involvement with these programs.

 

Institutional Interest in CIRTL


Synergies between existing institutional goals and CIRTL goals enhance the mutual value for institutional involvement in the CIRTL Network.

  1. Explain why your university would like to be part of the CIRTL Network. How will participating in the Network contribute to the goals of your university?
  2. What two or three specific outcomes does your university wish to achieve by the end of your second year of involvement with CIRTL? After 5 years of involvement?


Plans for a Local CIRTL Learning Community

CIRTL seeks to enable graduate education to produce STEM faculty who are both superb researchers and excellent teachers. We have found that three core ideas can act in concert to enable graduate programs to achieve this mission: Teaching-as-Research, Learning Communities and Learning-through-Diversity. (www.cirtl.net/pillars)


Core Institutional Members develop local CIRTL learning communities that include new programs based on these core ideas and/or current programs enhanced by incorporation of these core ideas. 

  1. Describe your vision for a CIRTL learning community on your campus. For example, who will be its members? Will it be it interdisciplinary? What will be the functional purpose(s) that connects its members as a learning community?
  2. What new learning community programs or activities will be developed as part of your participation in the CIRTL Network?
  3. What current programs will be modified or changed to reflect your university’s involvement in CIRTL? How will your university integrate CIRTL ideas into current local programs and activities?

 

You might want to look at www.cirtl.net/coreinstitutionalmembers to see examples of new and modified programs across the CIRTL Network.

Plans for the Cross-Network Learning Community


The CIRTL Network includes a cross-Network learning community. Future faculty participate actively in a rich curriculum of on-line and in-person opportunities. Core Member Institutions are expected to make meaningful contributions to the vitality of the cross-Network program (e.g., offering courses to cross-Network participants, managing the CIRTL Exchange Program, providing workshops and learning opportunities via CIRTL Casts, etc.). 

  1. What courses, activities, programs, or expertise would your university be interested and able to develop and offer for future faculty across the Network?
  2. Which of these courses, activities, programs, etc. would your university be prepared to offer within one year of joining the Network?

 

 You might want to look at www.cirtl.net/cafe to see examples of current cross-Network learning community opportunities.

 

Resources for Action within the CIRTL Network


The effectiveness and impact of the local learning community, and contributions to the Network, depend on both people and institutional resources. A Core Institutional Member should have a team comprised, at minimum, of the Institutional CIRTL Leader and a Co-Leader administering day-to-day operations. Optimally the team would include several engaged STEM faculty members, academic staff members, administrators, and leaders among the future faculty. 

  1. Who will comprise your CIRTL team? For each person, indicate position, department, experience relevant to CIRTL, and time to be applied to CIRTL work.
  2. A vital and institutionalized CIRTL learning community will need engagement of faculty and staff on behalf of the future faculty. How will faculty and academic staff beyond the initial team be attracted to participate in your local CIRTL learning community?
  3. How will future faculty be recruited to participate in local or Network activities? What communication tools are available for your CIRTL programs (e.g., email list for contacting STEM future faculty)?
  4. What administrators will be drawn on to support the development and implementation of CIRTL activities (e.g., names, positions, likely ways in which they may support CIRTL)? Where will CIRTL activities be housed in the current organizational structure?
  5. What program evaluation capacity can you draw on, especially to support studies on the impact of the local learning community? People with evaluation interests are invaluable on the leadership team and for program development and implementation.
  6. What technical staff is available to support your local CIRTL programs and Network activities (e.g., people to assist with your website, Elluminate, a Facebook page)?

 

National Impact


Ultimately, CIRTL is about improving STEM undergraduate education through developing a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers.

It is expected that each Core Institutional Member will have varying levels of involvement and impact on future faculty, ranging from familiarization with ideas to active engagement through implemented Teaching-as-Research projects to peer-review dissemination. (www.cirtl.net/CIRTLoutcomes) 

  1. How many students do you seek to involve in CIRTL-related programs within the first year at various levels?
  2. How many do you estimate will be involved at various levels annually by the end of Year 5?