Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) — Advancing what works in STEM education

2012 PKAL Summer Leadership Institutes for STEM Faculty

Baca Campus of Colorado College
Crestone, CO

Dates
Institute I: July 17-22, 2012
Institute II: July 31 - August 5, 2012

The application deadline is Friday, April 6, 2012. For more information on the application process click here.

The PKAL Summer Leadership Institute is designed for early and mid-career STEM faculty engaged in leading projects aimed at transforming undergraduate STEM education in their classrooms, departments and institutions. These five-day intensive institutes provide faculty participants with the theory and practice required to act as agents of change in their home institutions or professional societies. They are held in the heart of the Rocky Mountains at the Baca Campus of Colorado College in Crestone, Colorado. PKAL is in its 14th year of offering the Summer Leadership Institutes.

Each institute will consist of up to twenty-five participants and eight mentors who are leaders in STEM education. Through plenary seminars, experiential leadership exercises, group discussions and personal reflection time, participants will:

• engage in discussions about national, regional and local challenges and opportunities facing faculty engaged in developing stronger STEM education.
• learn from experienced mentors about the political dimensions of institutional change, the importance of understanding the institutional culture, and the changing national context for STEM leadership.
• practice the art of successful communication and negotiation.
• learn about communication style and develop an appreciation of how differences in communication styles, experience, and backgrounds enhances dialog and projects.
• reflect privately and with mentors and peers on being an agent-of-change and a leader in STEM education.
• create a leadership growth plan, with guidance from mentors, that outlines the vision, goals and strategies that will serve as an action agenda to effect change.
• join a network of colleagues from around the country who share similar goals regarding the creation of effective learning environments for all STEM learners.

The Summer Leadership Institutes are designed around a carefully coordinated blend of theory and practice, weaving discussions of issues of national import with experiences about the politics of change together with time for conversations and reflections with mentors. Institute mentors play a key role in guiding the conversations, as they bring to the table first-hand experience in leadership in institutional change at the local and national levels. The institute utilizes a variety of approaches that include case-studies, role-playing, field trips and collaborative problem-solving exercises. Experiential learning is a significant part of the institute. Mentors will work with participants during the institute in shaping a personal agenda for leadership and action, continuing to serve as mentors during the year following the institute.

Comments from past institute participants:

“In particular, I attended the life changing PKAL Leadership Institutes. This weeklong workshop helped me analyze my career, set goals consistent with my talents and passions and construct a framework to enable my success by identifying benchmarks at critical points in my career. I am eternally grateful for having PKAL in my life and on my campus.”

“I went to Baca in 2004 and it was a life-changing experience. The leadership skills and professional networks I developed in that short week have had an immeasurable impact on my career and on my students’ learning and their careers.”

“As I look back on my career, one of the tipping points was when I became a member of the PKAL family. I had always had the life goal of creating environments that promote learning, and in joining PKAL, was able to learn the skills, behaviors and attributes of leadership that facilitated me moving forward to achieve that goal. I learned how to create effective learning environments, I made contacts that increased my sphere of influence and I developed leadership skills that, on my return to my own campus, facilitated me taking more and more leadership roles.”

Click here for the brochure.

Choosing Among AAC&U Summer Institutes—Learn more here.