Call for Participation: Cohort 1

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The newly launched Cultural Change in Geoscience (C-ChanGe) project is seeking faculty members interested in working together to make impactful change for geoscience inclusion and equity, and to become part of a national community of practice dedicated to creating positive cultural change in their departments and the discipline. We are looking for teams of three from departments that teach geoscience to become the first cohort of Change Agents in the program. Selected teams will work together in leadership and professional development activities through virtual and face-to-face formats and connect with a network of thought leaders while sharing their learning with their home departments.

Participants will learn strategies for:

• Identifying and adopting inclusive teaching practices;
• Creating community for student support and sense of belonging; and
• Overcoming programmatic and institutional barriers to promote change.

Learn more about reasons to participate, participant and team responsibilities, and how to apply. Questions? Contact project Co-PI John McDaris at jmcdaris@carleton.edu or read our frequently asked questions.

Why Participate?

The C-ChanGe project will provide you with professional development activities for two years, January 2025 to December, 2026. We anticipate that your participation in this project will have many benefits:

• The project will provide you with concrete ways to implement inclusive strategies in your individual practice at many scales. These activities will be based on the latest scholarly research as well as materials developed by a network of partner projects all focused on positive cultural change in the geosciences.
• You will receive professional development detailing existing barriers to inclusion and belonging for students with non-dominant identities and how to help them avoid, lower, or eliminate those barriers.
• You will develop your leadership skills as a faculty member and become a more effective advocate for your program/department/division, learning about leadership styles and strategies for working with others to strengthen your program, department, and/or division.
• In Year 2, you will work with faculty peers from a second cohort of teams, who will learn from your experiences and work to strengthen their own teaching and programs/departments.
• You will meet and work with other like-minded faculty, at your home institution and across the country, sharing your experience and expertise in implementing your project goals. You will work with your local team to develop your campus connections and to lead workshops on your campus, and become part of a vibrant national network of geoscience faculty and organizations working to promote cultural change.
• You will receive financial support for full participation in the project: $1,500 per person.

Responsibilities

Change Agent teams will implement high-impact, evidence-based instructional and co-curricular practices at their own institutions that will support the academic success of all students, broaden participation, and demonstrate leadership for cultural change. They will also share these practices with colleagues. We expect the time committment to be 2-3 hours per week during the periods of virtual programming.

Individual Change Agents will:

• Participate in the professional development activities of the project in 2025-26:
  • 2025 Spring virtual professional development (Late January-April): Participate in 7, two-week units, including synchronous one-hour meetings (via Zoom) and asynchronous work (e.g. readings, videos, discussion boards) that will lead to participants carrying out activities with their home department. Planned topics include: inclusive teaching practices, updating courses and programs for cultural relevance, supporting sense of belonging, promoting positive mental health and resilience, inclusivity and safety in the field, and leading change and bringing others along.
  • 3-day, in-person workshop May 11-13, 2025 at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. (Airfare, lodging, and most meals covered by the project)
  • Choice of professional development activities in the Fall 2025 (September-November): Based on the goals and barriers that you identify in Spring 2025, you will have a choice of activities in Fall 2025 (e.g., book club, journal club, implementation group). Each series will include 3 one-hour meetings with some asynchronous work between meetings.
  • 2026 Spring virtual professional development (February-April): "200-level" activities to take learning further following a similar format to 2025, with additional material to build on the experience of year 1.
  • 3-day, synchronous virtual workshop in May 2026 to complete public-facing webpages about your team's experience in the project and synthesize some lessons learned by the whole cohort.
  • Choice of professional development activities in the Fall 2026 (September-November)
• Provide program feedback via pre- and post-surveys, participation in short interviews with the external evaluator, and other project evaluations.

Teams will:

• Develop a team action plan, based on your team goals, for strengthening your program(s) and department(s) in ways that are aligned with the overall C-ChanGe program goals.
• Develop and lead one short workshop or event per year (two total) for your institutional colleagues to spread what you have learned in the program.
• Describe your team and context, highlight your team's activities and results, and showcase your strategies for making change happen on the C-ChanGe website.

Applications

To apply, please complete the application form. The application deadline is Friday, November 22, 2024.

Change Agent teams will be selected based on the following criteria:

• The likely success of the work you want to accomplish (relative to your team's stated goals)
• The potential impact of your work (e.g. number of impacted students and faculty, institutional context)
• How your team contributes to the overall diversity of Change Agent teams (broadly construed, e.g. institution type, geographic area, demographics)

In the application, you will be asked to articulate what you would like to accomplish and the goals that you would like to pursue as a Change Agent. We recognize that your plans and goals may change as the project develops. To apply, read through the questions on the application form to plan your response, and write out your answers to the questions. Then one team member should complete the application form on behalf of the team. You will also be asked to identify an administrator (department chair, associate dean, dean...) who will provide a letter of commitment.

FAQ:

• What counts as "geoscience?"
  We have an expansive view of geoscience. Geology, planetary science, atmospheric science, oceanography, environmental science are included. If you have a question about the fit of your program, please ask.
• Do participants need to be tenure track faculty?
  Not necessarily, but they should be people who have a long-term interest and commitment to the academic program. People with clinical appointments, contingent faculty, and staff members could be part of teams if they are fully participating members of the department or program. C-ChanGe is not envisioned to be for graduate students or postdoctoral scholars on temporary appointments.
• Does our work have to be public?
  We will be working together to both make change in the home departments of participant teams, and to create models for leadership development and programmatic change that can be followed by others who are not part of the cohorts. As such, some part of the work we do together will be public. That doesn't mean everything has to be. We understand that the sensitive nature of the topic, and the changing political landscape may mean not all the details of our work together can be shared, and that's fine.