What are the participant roles?
Learning Circle Participants are individuals serving as a “Team Lead” who will attend the online Learning Circle meetings and lead a designated broadening participation in computing team at their institution (e.g. planning, scheduling, and facilitating their local team meetings). Only one participant attends the Learning Circle meetings from each institution.
Local Team Members are three to eight people from the institution/school/department representing a variety of roles and perspectives, including faculty (e.g. teaching, tenure-line) and staff (e.g., advisors, admissions staff). Local Team Members should support the Team Lead by assisting in tasks throughout the strategic planning process because broadening participation is a team effort and not the work of one person.
What’s the time commitment?
Learning Circle Participants attend several collaborative synchronous meetings and complete a few asynchronous content sessions during the fall. During the spring, they shift into the Team Lead role by facilitating discussions and strategic planning sessions on their campus (approximately nine-twelve hours). Team Leads also have access to two Learning Circle meetings and open office hours with NCWIT research scientists in the spring.
Local Team Members complete guided assessment activities, review program data, and participate in approximately nine weekly one-hour meetings (alternative configurations include a full day retreat or two half-day retreats) to discuss the findings from the six interrelated focus areas (program entry, classroom experience, community & belonging, program curriculum & supports, institutionalization, data & evaluation).
What are the benefits of participating in Learning Circles?
Learning Circles help you evaluate and update your undergraduate computing program through a systemic change lens to ensure success for all students. Past participants have highlighted how their department benefitted from being able to rely on a structured process of first assessing six interrelated focus areas and then using the findings from these assessments to inform the strategic plan. They also note the benefit of having NCWIT’s strategic plan templates and ongoing support from NCWIT social scientists throughout the yearlong process.
What is the TIJ-UP?
NCWIT’s Tech Inclusion Journey® for Undergraduate Programs (TIJ-UP), is an online tool that enables a department to assess the practices in their computing program, guides team discussions, connects the team to relevant broadening participation resources, and provides the basis for strategic planning. The TIJ-UP will lead your change team through the strategic planning process from start to finish using the six interrelated focus areas of the NCWIT Undergraduate System Model.
