The Boundary-Spanning, Disrupting, and Stabilizing Roles of a STEM Center and its Members in Facilitating Change

Members of university STEM centers necessarily play a boundary-spanning role within a university and generally between the university and outside organizations as well. Northern Kentucky University's (NKU) Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics (CINSAM) STEM Center is one such center, whose various employees are specifically designated to engage in boundary-spanning to advance CINSAM's mission of promoting enthusiasm, excellence and equity in STEM teaching, learning and scholarship at P-16 levels. These boundary-spanning behaviors—as described by Lucas Hill (2020)—facilitate exchange of ideas across units within NKU and with external partners in a way that allows CINSAM to engage in disruption and stabilization to advance STEM education as described by Deborah Carlisle and Gabriela Weaver. In this presentation, we will examine CINSAM's successes with and opportunities for boundary-spanning in service to advance its mission. We will also discuss parallels with participants' organizations and experiences with boundary-spanning, disruption, and stabilization.