COME-In Moving Forward by Aris Winger

More instructor support and mentoring

2025-05-29 18:23:22 UTC

We will have a system for mentoring instructors, which includes peer observation and discussion. Everyone in my department will be engaged in striving to improve as teachers.

A new sustainable program with proof of concept

2025-05-29 18:24:11 UTC

With internal support, external fundraising, and students opting in, it seems possible. Even if not, we'll be more intentional about how we're serving these students.

General uncertainty about the future

2025-05-29 18:24:39 UTC

Uncertainty about how our Fall schedule will look like, how our workload will change, how many students we'll have, how many classes we'll need to cancel.

Logistics, funding, and the unknown

2025-05-29 18:24:42 UTC

Continue being an accountability partner

2025-05-29 18:25:02 UTC

Awareness

2025-05-29 18:25:47 UTC

Students will have a better understanding of what mathematics is and what they can do with it.

Our department will better understand why students choose or don't choose a major in mathematics and make plans to act on this understanding.

Professional Growth

kmcallahan — 2025-05-29 18:25:48 UTC

Each person involved will have grown personally and professionally as a leader and cultivating meaningful change. Evidence of success will be evident and momentum for moving forward.

Understanding our students and partners

2025-05-29 18:25:48 UTC

We would have a deep understanding of who our potential students are, and how we can help them move toward their goals with more success.

Sustaining energy and excitement

2025-05-29 18:25:54 UTC

When this isn't a new and shiny initiative, it's harder to focus on it.

Resources and buy-in

2025-05-29 18:25:56 UTC

How do we convince everyone that things need to change? Who will take charge and lead a new mentoring program? How do we convince faculty that putting time and energy into peer mentoring is worth their scarce, valuable time?

Community

2025-05-29 18:26:06 UTC

We build good support structures and a better community at our department.

2025-05-29 18:26:41 UTC

We'd have IRB approval, our survey written and sent out, our focus group plans formalized, students recruited, and focus groups conducted. We'd have all the results summarized and distributed to our faculty and have discussions about what change needs to happen (perhaps at a faculty retreat). We'd have the IRB application and survey/focus group questions posted so others can use them, and maybe the results published too. We'd have our dashboards set up and write a paper about what is included in the dashboard, so others can use them.

Think Big

2025-05-29 18:26:45 UTC

Realizing that big things often come out of many smaller actions. Keep working on the small parts in the face of challenges. Ask the hard questions - we'll work on things together.

Time and focus

2025-05-29 18:27:11 UTC

With so many losses of funding, we're struggling to keep everything together.

Mathfest

2025-05-29 18:28:09 UTC

Looking forward to getting more details about the logistics/timing of our panel at Mathfest.

Dealing with resistance

kmcallahan — 2025-05-29 18:28:16 UTC

Anticipate, plan for, and be willing to push through resistance to change.

Recognize progress

kmcallahan — 2025-05-29 18:28:48 UTC

Change can be slow. Be sure to celebrate successes!

Keep up the good work

2025-05-29 18:31:42 UTC

I am here to support you. Please reach out at any time if you need to discuss something that is going on with the project

Reassurance

2025-05-29 18:31:59 UTC

Even if there isn't a new funding source, are we going to stick together (in a low-budget way) through next year?

Effective Teaching in Action

2025-05-29 18:58:33 UTC

I envision a dedicated core group of faculty—both full-time and part-time—who are actively reimagining how best to facilitate learning in College Algebra. This group will gradually and successfully expand its impact by engaging more colleagues and extending these innovative practices to additional courses offered within the department. Through this collaborative effort, the department will become more engaged in campus-wide initiatives and form partnerships with other programs to provide enhanced support for students, both in and outside the classroom.

Challenges

2025-05-29 19:07:18 UTC

At a personal level: The primary challenge is the lack of time to fully engage in this work while balancing existing responsibilities.

At a broader level: Securing funding to incentivize participation—such as providing faculty stipends/course releasem, offering gift cards to students participating in focus groups, etc.—is a significant challenge. Additionally, there is a broader national context where pushback against equity-focused efforts creates hesitation and resistance, making it harder to foster a culture of collaboration and improvement around this important issue.

More campus visits

2025-05-29 19:12:19 UTC

Campus visits enhance the project’s visibility and naturally spark dialogues and the exchange of ideas—conversations that might not occur, or might take a different direction, if limited to the regular participants and colleagues.

Community

2025-05-29 19:14:46 UTC

I deeply value this community—the COME-IN community! To the leaders: please do your best to keep us connected and to sustain this supportive cohort moving forward.

Evaluation

2025-05-29 19:16:59 UTC

We would greatly appreciate any support you can offer in developing ideas for evaluating this work at the departmental level. Having the opportunity to consult with leadership and have our evaluation ideas reviewed and vetted by the group would be incredibly helpful.