Workshop Overview

Join us in San Antonio following the SMTI annual conference for a one-day meeting focused on building a toolkit to support STEM Centers in their efforts to improve teaching and learning on their campuses.This workshop will focus on bringing together leaders from across the National STEM Education to develop the ideas brought forward by participants at the 2014 and 2015 NSEC meetings to generate a set of resources that will be useful to centers across the NSEC network.

Workshop Goals

To share ideas and resources across institutions
To develop a community-generated toolkit of best practices for NSEC centers that can be shared with the broader community
To build a sense of community among participants and
Demonstrate a network-wide effort

Outcomes

NOTE Toolkit element list from 2014 workshop (private).

A draft toolkit that includes the following 5 elements:

"How-To" guideline document for best practices for developing a mission and vision statement and using it to identify and communicate with stakeholders
Models of center organizational structures with guidelines and advice about situations where each is beneficial, with examples
Models for center funding structures and best practices for interacting with potential funding sources
Best practices and resources for evaluation of center programs
Guidelines and suggestions for building effective partnerships and collaborations with entities within and external to the center's institution

A timeline for reviewing the toolkit and soliciting feedback from the NSEC community, and revising the toolkit
A resource list that is generated as part of the toolkit building process
Plans for next steps in supporting this work

Meeting Dates

The workshop will follow the APLU SMTI annual conference and will be held at the same location. Click here to find information about the SMTI conference.
We will begin the workshop with an opening session the evening of June 9 and run from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm on June 10. Participants will be expected to attend all of the workshop sessions.

Important dates

Application - March 4, 2016
Stipend application deadline - March 4, 2016
Invitations to register sent by April 1, 2016
Registration deadline - April 29, 2016
Pre-meeting work submitted by April 29, 2016

Expectations

By registering for the meeting, participants agree to:

Before the workshop - complete the registration and complete the workshop pre-work, update your center profile, and read pre-workshop information
If you do not yet have a Center Profile, email John McDaris in the SERC office and he can help you set one up.
During the workshop - participate in all sessions
After the workshop - complete reviews of workshop-generated toolkit material

Costs

There is no registration cost for workshop participants and breakfast and lunch on June 10 will be provided. Participants are expected to cover their own travel and lodging expenses. A limited number of travel stipends of up to $500 are available for participants who do not have institutional support for their participation. Please apply by March 4, 2016 to be considered for a travel stipend.

Application and Selection Criteria

Our vision for the NSEC toolkit is that it will include best practices for dealing with common challenges STEM Centers face, and that it will be useful for centers spanning the diversity of institution and center types represented in the NESC community. Participants will therefore be chosen by application to ensure that the toolkit building teams have distribution by institution and center type, as well as experience with the content needed in each of the toolkits. An application questionnaire will be used by the NSEC Steering Committee to select participants and invitations to register will be extended by April 1, 2016.