Year 2: Maintaining Momentum + Institutional Barriers & Opportunities
In year 2 the focus shifts from direct work with students in the classroom to examining institutional barriers and opportunities to improve institution wide practices and policies.
Barriers and Opportunities Workshop
To start this work, TIPS pathway faculty meet for a day-long workshop before or at the start of the fall semester of Year 2 organized by the local TIPS leader. In this workshop, faculty explore institutional barriers (admissions, discipline, financial aid, etc.) and opportunities not fully benefiting Latinx students (internship programs, student support services, professional mentoring, etc.) and identify targets for improvement.
To prepare for the workshop, the local TIPS leader should review responses from the initial student surveys and focus groups that give examples of barriers that students have encountered in their experiences with the university and the practices/organizations that have supported them along the way. Guests from across campus (e.g. cultural center, advising, teaching center) can enrich the discussion.
At the workshop, faculty review feedback from students and share their own experiences. In small groups, they brainstorm ideas around the three topics (barriers, opportunities, department & institutional policies and practices).
Barriers and opportunities will vary from institution to institution. Common barriers might include (but are not limited to):
- Applying and navigating financial aid
- Policies around probation and disqualification
- Lack of networking opportunities
Common opportunities might include (but are not limited to):
- Cultural student organizations
- Advising centers
- Programs that support transition to college (e.g. summer bridge, first-year experiences)
- STEM support programs (e.g. MESA, LSAMP)
- URM support programs (e.g. McNair, EOP)
The workshop also includes a review of departmental and institutional practices and policies. Common topics might include (but are not limited to):
- How is equity work valued in faculty review processes?
- Is advising equitable? Or do different students receive different advising based on unconscious bias of the advisor?
- Disqualification and reinstatement policies
- Teaching assignment
As a whole group, participants choose 4-5 topics as the focus for task forces that will work throughout the academic year. Participants sign up for one or two task forces they are most interested in. Task force topics might be (but are not limited to):
- Financial aid and basic needs
- Departmental policies and practices
- Building Student Communities & Welcoming Spaces
- Incorporating cultural practices in departmental life
- Using data to increase equity
- Reducing textbook and other costs
Barriers & Opportunities Task Forces
Throughout the academic year, TIPS participants meet regularly (e.g. monthly) in the established task forces to more deeply investigate their topic of interest. Task force might form institution-wide collaboration to remove the barriers or strengthen opportunities and make recommendations for change to relevant institutional offices and stakeholders.
Lesson Study
TIPS Pathway faculty engage in a second round of lesson study in year 2. The structure of the lesson study is similar to year 1. The lesson study leader will organize the lesson study groups early in the fall semester. This might even be part of the opportunities and barriers workshop. They will encourage pathway participants to take on the role of lesson study facilitators to start building capacity for future independent lesson studies to continue in the department after the 2 year TIPS Pathway activities have concluded. Continuing with lesson study is an important part of institutionalizing the practices of equity focused collaborations in STEM departments.
Monthly facilitated check-ins
Year 2 continues with monthly check-ins with participants throughout the fall semester to get a gauge of how their semester is going and how they are continuing to implement some of the new practices and policies that they came up with during year 1. The monthly sessions are a way of holding participants accountable to make the changes that are needed. In the fall, check-in meetings are still facilitated by the outside PD leaders, with the goal to transition the leadership responsibilities to pathway faculty leaders in the spring. In the future, similar faculty check-ins could be incorporated into existing department meeting structures, such department meetings, course coordination meetings, or department retreats, or new collaborative regular check-in meetings could be created.
Departmental Policies
Possibly in collaboration with the policy and practices task forces, the department will review its current policies and practices to increase the focus on equity and belonging for minoritized students. TIPS pathway faculty, working with department leadership, will implement recommendations from the task forces through existing governance structures.