What do you would most want to study or teach about climate change?
What kind of job might you hope to get that would address climate change in some way?
What would a dream internship be?
What are some exciting community partnerships we could develop?
And much more! These conversations will help us determine the scope of the Center, draft a mission statement, and recruit aCenter Director. We hope to launch the new Center in the next academic year.
We would like to hear from you! Please join us onMarch 3, 2021 at 1:00pmfor this exciting discussion!
Sincerely,
Karen Gaul, Larry Geri and Faculty Climate Advisory Team
Here’s the presentation of the data that was used for the February 12th Faculty Meeting. The data (from all the ideas collected about the “big bets” process) is still being worked with and we will offer updates as they are available. (A friendly reminder that this is a emergent process!)
We have had a robust week of “big bets” updates, including at the Wednesday, February 12th faculty meeting and at the Thursday, February 13th staff meeting for the Student and Academic Life (SAL) division.
The faculty meeting update on “big bets” was led by a group of faculty serving on our Coordinating Group–a big thank you to Carri LeRoy, Karen Gaul, Kevin Francis, and others for putting together a robust discussion and activity centered around all (500+!) ideas received thus far. I hope to post to the website the presentation they put together as soon as I receive it–stay tuned. (Edit: the first iteration of the data presentation is available here. Enjoy!)
The SAL staff meeting was another great opportunity to engage our community in the “big bets” process. Co-chairs Jen Drake and Larry Geri offered process updates, we reviewed the website, and we invited attendees into an activity focused on supporting two populations of potential student populations: “career starters” and “career accelerators” (taken from The Differentiated University). Career starters are 18-24 year old students focused on their professional lives who view colleges as a “stepping stone.” Career accelerators are working adult students who believe college credentials will improve their chances of obtaining higher paying jobs.
Pictures below are the answers generated by SAL staff participants to the question “what are your BEST ideas for supporting” career starters (orange paper) and career accelerators (green paper).
A second round of community conversations was held week two of winter quarter. We had 53 total attendees composed of the following: 23 staff members, 16 faculty, 12 students, and one alum.
Agenda for the Community Conversations: From Blue Skies to Big Bets, winter 2020
Context provided included data on demographic of higher ed (see here and below), the list of ideas that have been collected so far (here), and the timeline for big bets (here).
Data station oneData station twoData station threeParticipatory Action Research, the community-based research we’re doing right now to gather ideas for the future of academics at Evergreen!When considering models for the “Evergreen of 2030,” four components need to be consideredModel example from Larry Geri (just an example, not a final proposal!)Model example from David McAvity (again, just an example, not a final proposal!)
Bring your best ideas to one of the four following “Blue Sky” conversations hosted by the Learning and Teaching Commons during week 9 of fall quarter:
Monday, December 2nd | 3-5 PM | Sem II C2105
Thursday, December 5th | 3-5 PM | Sem II A2105
Friday, December 6th | 9-11 AM | Sem II A3105NEW!
Friday, December 6th | 1-3 PM | Sem II A3105
Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash
What is a BIG bet?
BIG bets have the promise to attract hundreds of students not currently choosing Evergreen; offer opportunities for new revenue streams; and align with future demographic and market trends. BIG bets transcend the scale of new Evergreen academic programs.
What new structures could we create? What new pedagogical approaches should we consider? What exciting new academic areas/fields or combinations of fields could we offer? What new groups of students should we aim to serve?
Take your big idea and make it bigger!
*There will be a second round of Blue Sky Conversations in Winter Quarter, so stay tuned!