Transform Your Department Culture – Helpful Examples for Inspiring Change

Speaker(s):
More Info
Tessa Andrews, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Georgia
More Info
Michael Wittmann, Ph.D.
Head of Education
American Physical Society
More Info
Teodora Rutar Shuman, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair, Mechanical Engineering Department
Seattle University

How can we transform our STEM departments towards a culture that values evidence-based teaching, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and that better supports faculty and students?:

Dr. Tessa Andrews shows us how a team of change agents collaborated with department chairs across 18 STEM units to promote robust and equitable departmental teaching evaluation systems, with the ultimate aim of supporting, incentivizing, and rewarding evidence-based teaching.
Dr. Michael Wittmann showcases the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) guide. EP3 helps STEM departments engage in a continuous cycle of improvement that facilitates cultural change benefiting both faculty and students.
Dr. Teodora Shuman shares how the Mechanical Engineering Department changed its culture to one focused on fostering students’ engineering identities by nurturing a sense of belonging among students and faculty. Learn how they achieved this through a process of modeling, experimenting, and iterating.