Responding to Racism

Posted: Sep 15 2017 by

Inese Berzina-Pitcher
Western Michigan University

Inese Berzina-Pitcher, Western Michigan University

In response to the events that took place in Charlottesville, we sent ASCN members an email with a subject line – "How shall we respond to racism?" in which we condemned these appalling displays of racism, violence, and ignorance, and discussed how they brought to light the importance of education in fighting racism and promoting equity and inclusion. We also reaffirmed that fighting racism and promoting equity and inclusion are a daily responsibility, and an important priority in our work. More

Featured Case Studies at the 2017 SMTI/ASCN Workshop on Diversity and Inclusion

Posted: Apr 17 2017 by

Inese Berzina-Pitcher
Western Michigan University

Inese Berzina-Pitcher

Creating an Institutional Culture of Accountability to Ensure Diversity and Inclusion in STEM Fields

Dr. Christine A. Stanley, Vice President and Associate Provost; Professor, Higher Education Administration, Texas A&M University will be the opening speaker on TAMU's Diversity Plan. TAMU's Diversity Plan, which was developed in 2010 and is executed by the Office for Diversity, established the expectation that all academic and administrative units submit annual reports to monitor and evaluate progress toward accountability, climate, and equity efforts. More

When it comes to teaching, is there a universal law that you cannot save time or use it differently?

Posted: Apr 4 2017 by

Judith Ramaley
Portland State University

Lorne Whitehead
University of British Columbia

Judith Ramaley and Lorne Whitehead

This blog post is about teaching, and time, a topic that we briefly discussed during one of our ASCN Working Group 2 meetings.

We begin with time. Throughout history, people have pondered it in many ways. One way is to study the quantities of time required for specific tasks in order to find ways to improve overall results. This can be helpful because time is a limited resource that is best spent wisely. For example, when this approach is applied to manufacturing, it can yield significant benefits for companies and their customers. In situations like this, efforts to save time and improve efficiency make sense. Not all situations have that character. In a second category of situations, most people don't find it appropriate to quantify and optimize time and results. Consider, for example, social interactions. We can't really measure them, and even if we could, who would want to? Many seek social interactions but very few wish to measure them or be so measured. More

2017 SMTI-ASCN Workshop on Diversity and Inclusion

Posted: Mar 20 2017 by

Inese Berzina-Pitcher
Western Michigan University

Inese Berzina-Pitcher

June 24–25, 2017
Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, Louisiana

Start time: 3:00 pm CT, June 24
End time: 5:30 pm CT, June 25

Registration is closed.

This summer, in partnership with the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) ( This site may be offline. ) , we are organizing the 2017 SMTI/ASCN Workshop on Diversity and Inclusion . The APLU Science and Mathematics Teaching Imperative (SMTI) is a community of faculty, department chairs, deans, and provosts who are engaged in improving STEM teaching and teacher preparation. This workshop immediately follows the NSEC 2017 National Conference .

The goal of the 2017 SMTI/ASCN Workshop on Diversity and Inclusion is to advance a dialog on diversity and inclusion in undergraduate STEM education between practitioners transforming institutions and researchers who are studying systemic change at higher education institutions. More