Transforming Institutions Takeaways
Rachel Renbarger, Western Michigan University
Last week concluded the 2021 Transforming Institutions Conference that marked the 10th year of convening like-minded change leaders. The event was a rousing success; we had over 250 participants from at least 3 continents with over 40 concurrent presentations, 60+ posters, and 4 workshops containing research-based strategies for improving higher education. What did we learn from such an amazing event?

Join an ASCN working group!
Kate White Temple University Kate White (Western Michigan University), ASCN Research Director
Have you been considering joining one of our working groups, but aren't sure where to start? Here you'll find updates on what each of our groups is working on and more information on how to get involved in 2020. You can join any of our working groups by filling out this short form. Keep reading to learn more about how we're exploring theories of change; the costs, benefits, and impact of change; change leadership; equity and inclusion in systemic change; aligning faculty work with change; and learning spaces.

Frameworks for Inclusive Excellence and Systemic Change
Susan Shadle Boise State University Susan Shadle, Boise State University
In the work I and my colleagues have done to create change around STEM Education on our own campus we've intentionally worked at two levels. We try to focus both on what will help individual faculty to make changes to their teaching and on how we can shift norms, structures, and teaching culture at the institutional level. My focus as a faculty developer has historically been focused on helping faculty make changes to their pedagogy through exploration and adoption of a variety of active learning pedagogies. I've also been interested in how the spaces in which faculty teach and the norms and policies that guide their practice can promote the adoption of evidence-based teaching practice. More recently, and for a variety of reasons, I've become more interested in how to support faculty to pay attention to their classrooms as inclusive places for learning and the degree to which their courses help to support equitable outcomes for students. While these ideas are connected to good pedagogical practice, thinking about inclusivity has prompted me to expand my toolbox.

Do I want to be recognized? Reflections on my experience with (Dis)Ability and working in Higher Education
Paul Artale, Henry Ford Community College
My name is Paul. I was born missing fingers and have funny arms. I am ok with it. There really isn't much that I can't do and I have learned to adapt. People who looked at me probably thought I could never play college football but yeah...I did that. I even coached it for a while. I loved my time working in athletics and although I looked different, I never felt out of place or discriminated against. I was just Paul Artale, football guy, and keeping teams from scoring on us was the most important thing in the world. I bring up football because being an athlete (and the lessons learned from it) are still very prominent pieces of my identity. Disability is a complex and nuanced identity. Disability is not a primary, or even secondary identity for many people with a disability. My athletic identity, ethnicity, and nationality (Canadian) are far more prevalent in my life. On a good day, it is something I don't think about much about. On a rare bad day it is something that I repress. Disability is often left out of discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) because individuals with disabilities frequently do not prioritize their disability identity, or leave it completely out of conversations because it is a secondary or tertiary identity. Another reason is that disability is often perceived as a medical condition; a person has a condition, they adapt, they persist, and they almost forget they had a disability in the first place.

Happy National Mentoring Month!
Patricia Marsteller, Emory University
Since Odysseus left Mentor in charge of his family, estates, and his son, the art and science of mentoring has been critical to guiding career and educational development. Like Mentor, I aim to be a wise and trusted counselor, guide, guardian, and teacher or as the title of a widely read book indicates, an Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend (National Academies of Sciences, 1997). I have learned that mentoring is an alliance between people and that both mentors and mentees benefit from agreements about how the relationship will evolve and how to include social support, career development, and growth. With faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates, mentoring often involves getting to know the whole person, their aims and aspirations, and their qualms about the future. Connecting students to the right resources or empowering them to bring up difficult questions with their faculty or research mentors requires that you be open, listen carefully, and know them as persons.

Responding to Racism
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.

Engaging the "race question": Accountability and equity in higher education
Engaging the "race question": Accountability and equity in higher education Drawing on CUE's Equity Scorecard, demonstrate what educators need to know and do to take an active role in racial equity ...

Step Up and Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do To Reverse our Deepening Divides
Step Up and Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do To Reverse our Deepening Divides Identifies key practices for addressing issues of equity at an institutional level. Suggested Citation Association of ...

Increase the Diversity of your Graduates
Increase the Diversity of your Graduates Science Education Resource Center (SERC) website outlining approaches to increasing minority participation in STEM. Suggested Citation Science Education Resource Center. ...

A student-staff partnership approach to course enhancement: Principles for enabling dialogue through repurposing subject-specific materials and metaphors
Lucy Chilvers, Centre for Learning and Teaching, and the School of Art, University of Brighton; Alice FoxCentre for Learning and Teaching, and the School of Art, University of Brighton; Sarah Bennett, Centre for Learning and Teaching, and the School of Art, University of Brighton;
Although describing a museum-based art class, the central principles and many of the strategies used can be adapted to STEM diciplines. The staff (authors' term) designed their museum-based class to create opportunities for dialogue with students, hear their voices, and use the information gleaned from to enhance learning and evaluate the class and pedagogical decisions. The qualitative analysis of student and staff experiences shows not only responsiveness by both groups, but increased engagement and sense of belonging by students from historically marginalized groups. The article includes quotes from staff about the challenges of this strategy (such as needing to remain 'unplanned') and practical constraints such as funding shortfalls. They end with 5 principles for module design including 'creative evaluation' (their term for this): 1. embedding regular opportunities for formative reflection and evaluation; 2. evaluative activities allow students to reflect on their learning and on the course; 3. staff are listening responsively and adapting to students' feedback where needed; 4. time is allocated for collaborative activities to build trust and support reflections; 5. activities and assessments are relevant to the discipline.