UNO Office of STEM Education

The mission of the UNO STEM Priority and the Office of STEM Education is to advance student understanding and success in STEM education by aggressively leading collaborative partnerships focused on increasing STEM capacity, competency, innovation, and literacy for the betterment of our metropolitan, regional, national, and international communities.

University of Nebraska at Omaha
Established: 2009

http://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-education/office-of-stem-education/index.php

Profile submitted by Dr. Neal Grandgenett

Vision and Goals

The four goals of the UNO STEM Priority and corresponding Office of STEM Education are to:

Strengthen the P16 STEM educational pipeline through innovative and interdisciplinary UNO STEM learning initiatives and to thus increase interest, involvement, and success in the STEM disciplines among all UNO students, especially those from underrepresented groups.
become a national leader in the research, development, and refinement of STEM active learning models that particularly support student success in metropolitan settings across the P16 pipeline and into STEM careers.
foster innovation in STEM service and community engagement in STEM learning through active, synergistic, and sustainable partnerships with the broader STEM community, including STEM educators, business professionals, and informal education partners.
provide administrative leadership and support through a UNO Center for Metropolitan STEM Learning that plans, coordinates, and encourages STEM-related teaching, research, and service initiatives.

Center/Program Structure

The UNO Office of STEM Education provides leadership for the UNO STEM Priority, which is one of four campus priorities. It is based in the College of Education, but organizational reports to three Deans (Education, Arts and Sciences, and Information Science and Technology) as well as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. It helps to coordinate STEM planning and initiatives across all UNO colleges, and seeks to build strong partnerships in the metropolitan Omaha area, that represent a national model for STEM within metropolitan context, and strives to enhance the student P16 STEM pipeline from coursework into careers. It has a 12 member leadership team that is drawn from across the campus and community.

Description of Programming

The STEM Priority is fully underway at UNO and is being led by a formal STEM Leadership team that is steering interdisciplinary efforts in three areas, including

curriculum enhancements,
capacity building, and
community collaboration.

Curriculum enhancement efforts being undertaken within the STEM Priority have been related to inquiry-based learning, flipped classrooms, student research integration, STEM module development and alternative pathways for STEM K12 teacher certification. In the capacity building efforts, the STEM leadership team has particularly facilitated efforts related to NSF grant writing, including proposals for the MSP, REESE, STEP, RET, and NOYCE programs, along with smaller proposals to other federal sources and private foundations, as well as a recent Nebraska Research Initiative grant for STEM mobile app development. Additional capacity building efforts have also been undertaken with the NU foundation to conceptualize possible STEM professorships, community chairs and student scholarships. Collaboration efforts within the STEM Priority is engaging all UNO colleges in STEM Engagement Links and is directly involving the community in many STEM efforts and outreach initiatives. For example, more than 80 different STEM youth camps were offered last year at UNO, and new youth camp efforts were initiated in high altitude ballooning, open-source robotics, and mobile app development. In efforts targeting community collaboration, UNO STEM has also initiated new partnership efforts with the Nebraska Air and Space Museum, the Henry Doorly Zoo, and NASA Nebraska Space Grant. Finally, the STEM Priority Leadership team is completing a formal strategic planning process that is engaging faculty, administrators, and community partners in focused strategic planning for next steps in the STEM initiative, with a formal STEM Strategic Plan is expected in the Summer of 2013.

Successes and Impacts

The UNO STEM Priority has successfully completed an extensive strategic planning process, that has engaged more than 80 faculty at all levels and across all colleges, as well as more than 60 community organizations, school districts, and informal education venues. This effort has significantly operationalized STEM efforts on our campus, and have enhanced our collaborative efforts on STEM initiatives. The campus leadership is also now putting a STEM Building into it facilities planning efforts to further support the STEM Priority.

Elements Contributing to Success

The success of the UNO STEM Priority to date can be traced to the Chancellor, administrators, and faculty identifying STEM as one of four key campus priorities. This designation resulted in enhanced momentum for shared initiatives, as well as additional resources and support from both across the campus and wider metropolitan community.