Across the country, colleges face enrollment challenges, equity gaps, and the need to prepare students for meaningful careers. Faculty are key to addressing all these issues. To meet this moment, Achieving the Dream is pleased to offer Building Capacity for Change, a new program designed to help colleges engage educators and build student success.
Building Capacity for Change (BCC) draws on research showing that high-impact professional learning is essential to building faculty engagement and student success. Working with campus-based teaching and learning teams, the BCC program empowers you to apply a comprehensive framework for high-impact professional learning to your own campus needs and goals. Structured partnerships linking teams with their CAOs guide the transition from action plan to effective implementation.
The BCC program leverages ATD’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit and links leadership teams from across the network. With coaching from professional development leaders, teams help each other in a program that combines self-assessment and strategic planning with supportive cross-college community. At the program’s conclusion, teams come away with resources for research-based pedagogies and student support structures, strategies proven to advance equity-focused change, a cohesive college-focused Action Plan for Professional Learning Impact, and connection to a growing national network of support.
Initially piloted with three small cohorts of colleges in 2020–21, the seminar process engaged two cohorts of ATD colleges in 2021–22 and has drawn rave reviews. In feedback surveys, 90% of participants rated “the support in applying the principles of high impact professional learning on my campus” as helpful or very helpful. And 96% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the process helped them “identify campus strategies for strengthening professional learning design and leadership.”
Past participants write:
“Having a framework to approach our work was excellent.”
“I am gaining a lot of insight because of the intentional, deeper level conversations with our campus team members. In addition, we are learning strategies and practices from other colleges to help strengthen our program.”
“It was an invaluable experience. We are about to roll out our new professional learning certification, we are working on increasing and implementing many communities of practice. I feel that there has been a shift collectively in our focus on professional learning and equity-minded implementation of the practices we learned in the program.”
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For more information or support completing the application, please email [email protected].