The Networked Improvement Community: Addressing Issues of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity within Graduate Education

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Presenter

Craig Ogilvie, Montana State University, CIRTL AGEP

Co-Authors

Monica Carter (UBuffalo), Panos Shiakolas (U. Texas Arlington), Luis Colon (UBuffalo), Anna De Cheke Qualls (University of Maryland, College Park), Marilyn Amey (MSU)

Abstract

In 2016, ten universities launched a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) aimed at increasing the number of scholars from AGEP populations entering STEM faculty careers. NICs bring together stakeholders focused on a common goal, a shared understanding of the problem, the structures creating and perpetuating the problem, and a working theory to address it. NICs have processes to develop, implement, refine, and share interventions. NIC structures require significant engagement with the group, often more intensive than traditional multi-institution organizational structures. However, a benefit is the ability to accelerate change as institutions learn from each other.

In this workshop, we will describe the CIRTL AGEP NIC, how we learned from each other the different contexts of each university, and the different roles that each of us has on our campuses. Our model of a NIC is a dynamic organization where members develop campus partnerships and also build supportive relationships with others at different universities working on the same challenges. The NIC has helped each of us build local capacity and accelerate change. We illustrate this process with cases where universities have learned from other members of the NIC to develop organizational structures or adapt interventions to implement on their own campus.

During the workshop, we will provide opportunities for participants to diagram their local partnerships as well as connections outside their university that could accelerate progress on AGEP’s goal to increase the number of scholars from AGEP populations entering STEM faculty careers.