Using Faculty Communities to Drive Sustainable Reform: Learning from the Strategic Instructional Initiatives Program

In February 2012, the College of Engineering allocated an unprecedented level of funding to solicit proposals for the Strategic Instructional Initiatives Program (SIIP) – a new program targeting the improvement of undergraduate engineering education. Faculty proposed large-scale renovations of a specific undergraduate course or closely-related group of courses, with the goal of improving student engagement, learning outcomes, and faculty teaching experiences. While our faculty possess requisite expertise in their course content, they are less aware of effective teaching practices. This weakness was particularly detrimental to our large enrollment gateway courses, undermining student persistence and subsequent academic success. Consequently, in addition to providing funding, the SIIP initiative attempted to provide on the fly faculty and community development. In this paper, we will discuss our observations and reflections on successful and halted reforms and will describe modifications to our approach to administrating and leading this pedagogical change effort.