Since 2014, the National Association of Geoscience Teacher's (NAGT) Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) has run workshops for more than 90 departments and programs across 33 U.S. states and one other country. Fifty-four departments, representing a range of higher education institutions, selected workshops focused on building stronger departments and programs by helping participants clarify goals and prioritizing concrete steps to meet them. Over ten years, end-of-workshop evaluations have had an average overall satisfaction of 8.9 out of 10, with comments highlighting the benefits of workshop facilitation in enabling input from all participants. While this demonstrates significant immediate impact, we sought to understand long-term impact.

We designed a survey instrument and interview protocol to examine how perceptions of the workshop's effectiveness changed over time and identify workshop outcomes that persisted. Surveys included Likert-scale questions about workshop outcomes, and both instruments solicited open-ended responses about short- and long-term impacts in areas such as departmental collaboration and shared vision development. Respondents were asked to identify barriers to implementation of strategic plans and emergent departmental challenges. The survey was distributed to all participants in the fifty-four workshops; interview requests were sent to individuals who requested the workshop. The survey had a 12% response rate (n=58). Thirteen faculty participated in video interviews.

Survey results indicate strong persistence of many workshop outcomes, including creating a shared vision and fostering discussion. Many open-ended responses reflect on positive impacts for departments that have undergone mergers or made major curricular changes. Barriers to implementation and current challenges include declines in enrollment, lack of administrative support, and faculty turnover. Interview results echoed similar positive impacts and barriers, with several respondents noting the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in implementing pre-2020 strategic plans. Several interview participants indicated participation in another TWP could help them navigate current departmental challenges.