Application Information

Participants attend the summer institutes in teams so that collaboration continues afterward. Having a partner colleague on the same campus is important for the successful implementation of new approaches to teaching and learning. A minimum of two people per campus team is required; teams of three are possible with justification.

Teams are comprised of two to three faculty members or faculty and instructional staff. A team ideally combines junior and senior colleagues, either from the same or different departments to encourage interdisciplinary teaching and student learning. Attending faculty may be involved in administration (e.g., dean, department chair, other administrator). Applications from previously attending institutions are welcome. Applicants should describe how the new team will work with the previous team(s) to advance the campus’s science education mission.

Support from senior administrators is essential for creating a collective faculty responsibility for improving undergraduate education. Campus leaders must be partners in implementing and institutionalizing change. As part of the application, campus leaders confirm funding and implementation support for proposed teams. Institutions fund travel, lodging, and meal expenses for participants and support them in implementing new teaching strategies, conducting related activities in their classes, and disseminating what they learned at the summer institute to their colleagues. On the application, sponsoring campus leaders (department chair, dean, provost) explain the kinds of non-financial support they will provide to attending faculty and instructional staff to enable them to implement campus change.

For institute attendees, participation is an extended experience and commitment that begins before the institute and continues through the academic year following the institute. Many participants and facilitators remain involved beyond the first year as members of a teaching and learning community in the sciences that emerges from the institutes. Participants provide formal updates on implementation plans developed at the institute, including sending one member of their campus team to an implementation follow-up meeting in early winter after the fall semester immediately following the institute. Attendees also agree to participate in surveys and other efforts to evaluate the efficacy of the summer institutes. Evaluators assist participants in developing and conducting their own formative assessment to refine the use of the new teaching strategies in the classroom.

Applications include statements from faculty or instructional staff about teaching goals, a rationale for the team’s composition, and a demonstration of substantive institutional support for the team. The following four components submitted together comprise a complete application:

Once completed, email applications to: apply@nasummerinstitutes.org. A single PDF is preferred.

Applications are reviewed by the respective regional organizing committees. Acceptance is based on the comparative strength of participant answers, team justification, and administrator statements of institutional commitment to improving undergraduate education.