This award is supporting the attendance of 15 community college geoscience faculty members at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado (October 31 - November 3, 2010). During the GSA meeting, these faculty members will attend and give presentations in two special sessions on "Geoscience Programs at Community Colleges: Models for Success and Innovation". They will also participate in a special Sunday evening forum to discuss with NSF program officers the process of obtaining NSF funding and some of the specific opportunities at NSF that are of particular relevance to geoscience faculty in community colleges.
This project supported 37 community college geoscience faculty to attend the 2010 and 2011 Geologic Society of America National Meetings. Faculty made presentations, participated in workshops and short courses, and made connections with other faculty both at 2 and 4 year colleges. At the 2010 meeting the supported faculty and numerous others attended a workshop on gathering external support for 2YC Geoscience programs entitled "Funding Opportunities for Two-year College Faculty: Possibilities, Challenges and Successes." Intellectual Merit: This project is an important step in a multi-pronged and significant effort to continue and increase the professional development of community college geoscience faculty. Furthermore, these efforts have led to the creation of a significant community of these faculty, an important step in creating a large group of faculty that teach innovatively and successfully. Indeed, the project has been used as a model for the ocean sciences community as a way to support community college faculty professional development and community building. Broader Impacts: Community colleges are a critical access point to higher education for roughly half of the racial minorities and undergraduates in higher education. A strong community of geoscience faculty who communicate about program successes and innovations improve program effectiveness resulting in and from improved teaching and learning at these critical institutions. This project supports innovations that broaden participation in the geosciences, and, because two-year institutions are diverse, disproportionately support under-represented groups. The project supported teachers that are on the forefront of educating our nation’s populace, building a strong and diverse geoscience workforce, training future teachers and developing effective and innovative pedagogies.
