Join the “Champions for Change” Learning Community and work with STEM colleagues from VCU, John Tyler Community College (JTCC) and Reynolds Community College (Reynolds)  to improve the educational outcomes of transfer students by developing and implementing strategies for inclusive teaching and transformative pedagogical practices. Supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Institute on Inclusive Teaching-STEM (IIT-STEM) is designed for STEM faculty in biology, chemistry, engineering and mathematics, who are committed to championing the transformational practice of inclusivity within their classrooms and at their institutions.

VCU received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence Award in 2018, in partnership with John Tyler Community College (JTCC) and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (Reynolds). The overarching goal of the VCU HHMI Inclusive Excellence Award (VCU HHMI IE) is to produce a marked improvement in the academic outcomes for transfer students and by extension first generation and African American, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American (AALANA) students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. As part of this work, the IIT-STEM is a faculty development program to explore a range of opportunities, strategies, and techniques for addressing the inclusiveness of STEM curricula. This program will increase your skills in inclusive teaching as well as facilitate the development of a network of STEM educators among the three institutions to improve the educational outcomes for transfer students at VCU.

The IIT-STEM- “Champions for Change” Learning Community

-The 2021 Summer Institute on Inclusive Teaching-STEM is split into a three day kickoff, May 19-21 2021,  and a two day session Aug 9-10 2021 to prepare faculty to implement inclusive teaching practices in their Fall 2021 courses. At this point in time, all events will be virtual.
-Includes year-long learning community activities to support the goal of developing relationships between institutions. The cohort will interact monthly during the academic year to share experiences, and assess progress and collect student feedback at the end of each semester.
-Involves the discussion, application, assessment, and implementation of inclusive practices in STEM classrooms
-Develops strategies to transform institutions through the dissemination of pedagogical practices and facilitating future IIT-STEM programs. IIT-STEM alumni have shared their work through VCU’s CTLE as well as at national meetings.

We invite STEM faculty from biology, chemistry, engineering and mathematics at VCU, JTCC, and Reynolds to relay their interest in participating in this year long activity to their Department Chairs or Deans  and submit the online application by April 10, 2021 for priority consideration. The Institute will kick off May 19-21, 2021 through a virtual platform. We are coordinating acceptances with the VCU CHS Leaders in Inclusive Learning program. Feel free to apply to both programs.

Compensation: Fifteen participants will be compensated with a $1000 stipend for the year.

Criteria: We are currently recruiting participants in the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics and Life Sciences. The positions are open to full-time faculty from VCU, JTCC, and Reynolds, and may include adjunct faculty who have been teaching at the college for one year and plan to continue teaching at the college in the future.

Participants must possess strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, in addition to demonstrated experience or commitment to advancing inclusive excellence in STEM. Participants should be willing to participate fully for the entire year.

In the application, candidates for the IIT-STEM Learning Community should discuss their interest in developing and implementing a curriculum that advances inclusive teaching in STEM as well as their plan to disseminate the curriculum and modules developed from the IIT-STEM experience at their own institutions and at professional conferences and meetings.

General Inquiries: Dr. Allison Johnson, aajohnson@vcu.edu

IIT STEM Participant Inquiries:
Deborah Neely-Fisher at dneely-fisher@reynolds.edu
Becky Durfee at Rdurfee@jtcc.edu
Dr. Dianne Jennings at dbjennings@vcu.edu