D. Expanded CIRTL Network Operations: Membership Expectations

Expectations for Core Institutional Members

a. Institutional Commitments

Core Institutional Members endorse the CIRTL Network’s mission and core ideas; express a commitment to develop or expand local initiatives to address the preparation of future faculty; and commit to meeting the programmatic commitments below.

A Core Institutional Member should have one STEM senior faculty member, the Institutional CIRTL Leader, committed to leading the institution’s involvement in the CIRTL Network. The Institutional CIRTL Leader should receive some relief from other obligations (e.g., 25% FTE) during the intensive development of at least the first two years, either via the institution’s funding from the Network or local resources.

A diverse leadership is necessary for success. We recommend several Co-Leaders, including someone responsible for management of day-to-day activities. Successful leadership teams in the prototype network have included multiple STEM faculty; colleagues in centers focused on faculty development, teaching excellence, or teaching assistants’ professional development; and senior graduate students.
(www.cirtl.net/coreinstitutionalmembers)

Core Institutional Members contribute funds and in-kind instructional and leadership resources to the Network in support of cross-Network activities and Network management, as described in Section F.

Core Institutional Members have ways of communicating with all of their STEM graduate students and for broadly marketing local and cross-Network programs to future and current faculty and staff.

A senior-level administrator should commit the institution to fulfilling the obligations of Core Institutional Members.

b. Programmatic Commitments

Core Institutional Members commit to develop a local CIRTL learning community that fosters formal and informal interactions among their future faculty.

The programmatic components of the local learning community will include (but are not limited to) courses, seminars, workshops and other activities. These could be newly created, build on current institutional offerings, or draw on existing programs throughout the Network. Through involvement in the local learning community, future faculty will develop skills aligned with the CIRTL learning outcomes. (www.cirtl.net/CIRTLoutcomes)

Each of the local programs and those programs offered by the Core Institutional Member as cross-Network opportunities should incorporate, at least in part, the core CIRTL ideas and associated concepts. In particular, local programs should provide numerous and explicit opportunities for future faculty to do Teaching-as-Research.

Core Institutional Members commit to integrating cross-Network offerings into their local CIRTL learning community, and to contributing programming and opportunities for future faculty throughout the cross-Network CIRTL learning community.

c. Evaluation Commitments

Core Institutional Members commit to submitting an annual evaluation report for all local CIRTL-funded programs using a Network-provided online template. Evaluation reports will be reviewed by a standing committee in order to assess progress toward achieving local goals at each member institution, as well as to examine progress toward achieving overarching Network goals. The committee will prepare a summary report for the Executive Committee of the Institutional Network Leaders, the CIRTL Network Director, and the Board of Directors.

In the spirit of Teaching-as-Research, Core Institutional Members implement additional evaluations locally, for which the Network will provide a resource base of assessment instruments and examples.

Expectations for Individual Members

Individual Members will be expected to register at the CIRTL website and become members of the online learning community. Individual Members will be eligible to participate in available cross-Network opportunities, some of which will be offered on a fee-for-service basis (e.g., online seminars, courses, and professional development opportunities, in-person CIRTL conferences). Priority of Individual Members will follow participants from Core Institutional Members.

Expectations for Affiliate Members

As both employers of doctoral program graduates and as STEM education innovators, Affiliate Members can bring significant expertise to the Network. The primary expectation is to contribute meaningfully to the preparation of the CIRTL Network future faculty in ways consistent with the CIRTL Network mission and core ideas. Affiliate Members might teach cross-Network courses, lead new programs, or host Network Exchange Students; participate in specific Network initiatives; or serve on the Board of Directors or as members of the Operation Group teams (Section E).

Affiliate Members may be eligible for limited financial support from the Network, depending on the project and the nature of member’s contribution to that effort.

Expectations for Managing Institutional Members

The prototype CIRTL Network (2006-2011) had all management centralized at one institution (University of Wisconsin – Madison). This model is not optimal in terms of creating a robust and flexible on-going management structure, and is susceptible to single-point failure. Optimally, management responsibility and associated funding will be divided and distributed among a few Core Institutional Members that wish to be Managing Institutional Members.

A Managing Institutional Member would have an annual contractual relationship with the CIRTL Network. The contract would specify specific responsibilities, deliverables, and an associated budget. These would be approved by the Executive Committee of the Institutional CIRTL Leaders and the chair of the Board of Directors.

The contractual responsibility for management success must lie with an identified individual of the Managing Institutional Member.

Possible management responsibilities might include: Online Community and Technology; Cross-Network Programs; Evaluation.

Process to Apply to be a Member of the CIRTL Network

Doctoral universities will be invited to apply to become Core Institutional Members of the expanded CIRTL Network in Spring 2011.

Processes for other memberships will be developed after the Core Institutional Members are in place. Until then, applications for other memberships will be considered on an ad hoc basis.