Regional Network Development

Goals for changes in the regional network

• Develop and foster stronger partnerships between Chemeketa Community College, Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) and local 4-year colleges and universities, such as Oregon State University (OSU) and Western Oregon University.
• Broaden the regional network of geoscience educators, which consists mainly of northern Oregon community colleges, by building relationships with faculty at Southern Oregon 2-year colleges, including Lane, Umpqua, and Rogue Community Colleges.

Strategies/Activities

• LBCC and OSU geoscience faculty and advisers meet 3-4 times a year to: 1) develop programs to support transfer students, such as LBOS-Geobridge, 2) create clear transfer pathways for geoscience majors, 3) work together to articulate current and new geoscience courses, and 4) gather student data to see how these efforts are affecting transfer students.
• Chemeketa is beginning the process of creating a guided pathway for better transfer to 4 year universities, with particular attention to the Earth Science curriculum at Western Oregon University, which is the main transfer university of Chemeketa students.
• We led a SAGE 2YC regional meeting, allowing us to personally invite faculty from colleges across the region, including southern Oregon community colleges.

Outcomes

• LBCC transfer students regularly participate in summer undergraduate research at OSU. Since 2018, eleven LBCC geoscience transfer students contributed to research at OSU's Argon Geochronology Lab, the Keck Collaboratory for Plasma Mass Spectrometry, and the Marine and Geology Repository.
• LBCC geoscience students track progress in their major using course transfer guides developed by OSU and LBCC faculty.
• Transfer students report an increase in confidence and have higher academic and career expectations when they participate in collaborative undergraduate research involving lab and field components.
• Chemeketa's guided pathway program is in progress, and though only four pathways for Biology, English, Elementary Education, and Business are the main focus, Shannon has been given permission by the Dean of Science to begin work on a geoscience guided pathway.
• The SAGE 2YC regional meeting that we hosted at Chemeketa's Yamhill Valley Campus brought together geoscience instructors from all over the state of Oregon (and Washington), including new full and part-time faculty members who had not yet participated in the SAGE 2YC meetings hosted by the Cohort 1: Portland, Oregon team. These instructors have been added to the regional SAGE 2YC email list, tying them closely to our regional network and allowing them greater contact with other teachers in the region.