How Do We Do This Now? Solidarity, Innovation, and Leadership in a Changing STEM Landscape

Day of Event: Meeting Location, Parking, Schedule

Registration and the opening plenary will be held in the Upper Student Union, which is located on the first floor of the Student Center (see campus map). Registration runs from 8:00 – 8:30 AM. The welcome remarks and keynote begin at 8:30 AM. See the agenda for more details. Parking is available in Parking Lots B, C, D, E.
 

Overview

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), an initiative of AAC&U, supports STEM faculty and administrators in advancing inclusive, high-quality undergraduate STEM education. PKAL Regional Networks provide accessible, collegial professional development opportunities that foster caring communities, explore and advance modern undergraduate STEM pedagogies, disseminate findings from undergraduate STEM education and practice, and promote faculty leadership and career advancement.

Meeting Theme

The 2026 Massachusetts PKAL Summer Meeting invites STEM educators, staff, administrators, and partners to reflect on the current realities of undergraduate STEM education and to share strategies for sustaining student success, faculty well-being, and program vitality in a changing institutional and societal landscape. Centered on solidarity and shared leadership, this meeting emphasizes honest dialogue, practical exchange, and collective sense-making. 

Keri Ann Sather-Wagstaff, Ph.D. will deliver the keynote presentation, Lessons Learned from 25 Years of NSF ADVANCE: A Framework for Intersectional, Sustainable Equity Organizational Change.

Call for Proposals (Closed)

How do we continue to support students, colleagues, and institutions now—amid shifting institutional priorities, evolving technologies, and expanding expectations for faculty? This conference aims to foster dialogue and highlight practices that support inclusive and effective undergraduate STEM education, while acknowledging the constraints and challenges many educators face.

We encourage proposals that are reflective, practice-based, and grounded in lived experience. Submissions may describe successes, challenges, lessons learned, or works in progress. 

Participants may be invited to share their work through: 

• Oral presentations
• Facilitated discussions or workshops
• Panels organized in collaboration with the host and steering committee
• Posters 

Please note: Consistent with past PKAL practice, panel sessions will be curated intentionally to support balanced and meaningful discussion across institutions.

Meeting Themes May Address (but are not limited to):

Solidarity, Faculty Experience, and Institutional Context

• Supporting faculty amid expanding instructional, mentoring, and service roles
• Documenting and addressing invisible labor in STEM education
• Communicating faculty needs and realities within institutional structures
• Informal leadership, shared governance, and advocacy in STEM programs

Student Success, Preparedness, and Scientific Literacy

• Teaching students across a wide range of academic preparation
• Rebuilding foundational skills without reinforcing deficit-based narratives
• Addressing misinformation and supporting scientific reasoning
• Teaching and learning in the context of emerging technologies, including AI

Innovation with Purpose

• Selecting and implementing instructional innovations with intention
• Using AI and other tools to support learning, efficiency, and integrity
• Low-cost, high-impact approaches to improving student learning
• Aligning pedagogy, assessment, and curricular goals

Leadership and Workforce Readiness (Related Threads)

• Preparing students for evolving STEM careers
• Partnering with career services, industry, and community organizations
• Supporting experiential learning while maintaining sustainable faculty workloads

Poster-Style Sharing (as interest and logistics allow)

Poster-style sharing may be included as a low-barrier option for participants to share work in progress, course- or program-level initiatives, or student-engaged projects in undergraduate STEM education. The inclusion and structure of any poster session will be determined based on interest, feasibility, and overall program balance, with flexibility to adapt formats as needed.

All submissions are due no later than May 6, 2026.
 

Proposal Preparation

To submit a proposal, please click on the link below and provide the following information to complete the Proposal Submission Form.

• Corresponding Presenter contact information (Institution name, email address, phone number)
• Title of presentation
• Abstract (maximum 300 words)
• Presentation format (oral presentation, facilitated discussion or workshop, panel and posters)
• Names and contact information for additional presenter(s)

For More Information

Please direct questions about the proposal submission process to Dr. Shannon Hogan at shannon.hogan@regiscollege.edu. For questions about the PKAL Regional Networks, please email pkal-networks@aacu.org.

Registration

Click HERE to register. Faculty and administrator registration is $60 per person. Student registration is complimentary. The registration deadline is May 31, 2026.