1. Resources: Our primary resources are social/ institutional. We have unprecedented support through our core department chair and administration. Describe what resources team used effectively. Our team: Rick, Abby, and Stella are cohesive and offers a range of different insights from different perspectives. This does not mean we always agree, rather, we can support our positions from a logical standpoint of each individual perspective. We are respectful and make efforts to compromise. ACCOUNTABILITY STRENGTHS ACTIONS BARRIERS & CHALLENGES SUSTAINABILITY RESOURCES & ALLIES NW-PULSE @ NW BIO 2014 Team: We have a united team who bring a unique combination of assets to the table: Rick Douglass: 30 year faculty member of the Biology Department at Montana Tech. Abby Peltomaa: Former student of and now adjunct in the department. Stella Capoccia: New tenure-track faculty of 4 years. Department or institution: Both our core department faculty (esp. chair) and our university are extremely supportive to our endeavors and offer institutional support and healthy working environment to establish the needed changes. VISION – Our vision is to use the PULSE program to assess, re-organize, and maintain a curriculum that is current, adaptable, and supported by the whole faculty. ~ Using the PULSE Vision & Change to gain clarity in a fog of facts. GOAL – Our goal was to develop a base-line assessment of the state of our department curriculum, a priority list of modifications, and a strategy for each. We have been successful in meeting this goal. Dr. Rick Douglass, Dr. Stella Capoccia, Abby Peltomaa Department of Biology, Montana Tech University Products: Full structural revision of the research seminar classes; establishment of structure for student deadlines; intent to reorganize curriculum based on reassessment of course objectives (expected to occur this fall). Assessments: Improved course evaluations based on immediate implementation of PULSE concepts & structure (select courses). Evaluated and reorganized the graduated seminar classes (freshman – senior) to support the senior thesis research Department-wide evaluation of the curriculum strengths and weaknesses according to the PULSE rubric Preliminary structural reorganization of introduction freshman classes to ensure connectivity of major concepts This work was supported in part by NSF EAGER #51588 Unexpected health challenges for Rick and Stella Existing faculty dynamics Unexpected changes in department structure and available faculty Currently, the sustainability of wide-scale implementation of vision and change is not as sustainable as we would like as a result of some pending department changes. We are preparing for sustainability by implementing structure to support the change in the upcoming year. Structure: Each course will have clear objective that embrace the vision and change concepts, carry over from prior courses and transition into advanced courses. We will use this to identify gaps and repetition.