An advantage of multi-institutional networks of people working towards common goals is being able to draw from experiences across the networks and to share experience and successful practices from a variety of institution types. However, this has to be done in the context of limited time and resources to come together in face-to-face experiences. It also has to work across institution types. We, SERC at Carleton College, have been working in partnership with leaders from several different types of networks to build online resources, drawn from the experience of network members, that can be used to promote professional development across institutions. These networks include two Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, IINSPIRE and North Star, the Network of STEM Education Centers, the InTeGrate program models and several others.

For example: The IINSPIRE LSAMP alliance is in its sixth year of funding and is comprised of three public universities, 2 R-1 and one comprehensive, 5 community colleges, all from Iowa, 7 liberal arts colleges and a tribal college from Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. While some groupings of the institutions had previously collaborated, the Alliance overall had no collective history and had different approaches to supporting students of color in pursuing STEM education. Some of the institutions had a considerable history of efforts to achieve the goals of the LSAMP program, others had little. By bringing together people from across these institution types, we have been able to foster cross-institution information sharing that is then documented for the parts of the community who have not participated in person. Drawing on the real experiences of people making change in their own settings can illuminate guidance and best practices in a particular area. We will share examples how these resources are built, and discuss what we know about the impact of these activities.