June 1, 2015 TCCIA Fred Hills, PhD

 Makes education come alive to engage students  Awake curiosity for learning in students  Develop career/professional Skills  Contacts and visibility for students at professional, scientific conferences  Increased acceptance into competitive programs and universities  Engage Faculty

 Project based learning  Classroom projects, assignments, and presentations  Poster presentations  Scholars Day – posters, prototypes, and presentations  Encourage students to interact, present & publish at local, state and national forums

 Started through the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI)  NSF grant through Finger Lakes College in NY  National effort, focused on Sciences  Faculty created a campus wide HURI  Started in the Sciences and Math  Now growing to include all disciplines on campus  Faculty Steering Committee  Project based learning expanding to the classrooms  Focus on student’s interests  Direct ties to Honors College

 Trips a continuation of classroom inquiry and applied learning  Travel to:  Local field study locations  MARS – All disciplines  Honduras – Marine Biology  Southwest US – Geology, Archeology, Environmental Sciences, & Engineering  New Zealand and Australia – Economics, Engineering and Science  New York City – Business and Marketing  Costa Rica – Language and Culture immersion courses  Washington DC – History and Government  Haiti – Nursing and Health Careers

 Joint usage:  MCC Health Careers  Family Practice Residents  Local hospital training  EMS and Paramedicine  Occupational Therapy  Promote separate and joint exercises among diverse communities  Emphasis on real world practices

 Workshops on Teaching Strategies  Collaborative/Cooperative Learning  Professional Development  Faculty Learning Communities  Teaching and Learning Book Club  Course Learning Communities  Faculty Summer Institute  4 day intensive workshop

 Students placed in graduate research programs  18 students to present at the Great Plains Honors Council Conference with 2 BOE Award winners in 2015  5 students presented at the Texas Academy of Science- Annual Meeting. One student won ”Best Poster Presentation- Marine Sciences Division."  2 students presented at the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative National Posters  2 students presented their research at the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative National Posters Session in Washington, D.C. Session in Washington, D.C.  8 students may also attend the Mars Society Convention in Washington, D.C.  306 student poster, displays, and presentations at Spring Scholars Day  Faculty presentation at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference on writing Boot Camp  Faculty leading collaborative and inquiry based initiatives

 Innovation in pedagogy - project based/program based/inquiry based, cooperative and/or individual research project learning opportunities  Ties to new State Core requirements  Complements College’s student success initiatives  Rewards engaged faculty and innovative

 How does applied learning fit the traditional community college mission in a time of shrinking resources?  Buy-in from faculty – time and effort  Making it interdisciplinary  Finding and prioritizing resources  Long term sustainability

 Expanding creative spaces and inquiry opportunities for students and faculty  Building a Learning Commons  Expanding “Summer Camps” for students and faculty  Digital Repository for Information Exchange  Building collaborative arrangements with HS  Expanding pathways with 4-year college partners

 Administration buy-in key to success  Don't reinvent the wheel - find those doing similar projects and invite them to join  Promote, promote, promote  Knowing when to lead and when to step back and follow

Fred Hills, PhD Dean of Arts, Sciences & Business