Call For Proposals

Call For Proposals:
Travel Awards to 2002 Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities Institute (U.S.)

African Women in Science and Engineering (AWSE), in a collaboration with African institutions of higher education and U.S. organizations, is undertaking an initiative to 1) confront the HIV/AIDS pandemic plaguing the African continent; 2) improve science education in East African universities; and 3) strengthen the role played by African women scientists and educators on these issues.

Central to this undertaking are campus-based efforts to reform undergraduate science education, foster civic engagement with HIV/AIDS, strengthen campus-community partnerships around HIV/AIDS, and strengthen the role of women in these efforts. To strengthen ongoing initiatives in these areas and catalyze new ones through Africa-U.S. partnerships, AWSE requests proposals from African teams for travel support to the 2002 Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) Institute, to be held in August 2002 at Santa Clara University, California, U.S. Four awards will be made.

The SENCER Institute, under the auspices of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, will be a five-day, residential intensive faculty development experience that draws together campus-based teams implementing innovative approaches to teaching science ³through² public issues with teams that want to adopt such approaches. Teams from 30-35 U.S. and four African colleges and universities will participate and include educators, graduate students, and academic leaders. The Institute will: (1) describe and analyze approaches and models for science education ³through² public issues; (2) identify the organizing principles that can serve to improve all science education; (3) place these approaches within the broader context of academic reform and renewal; (4) explore implementation of new approaches, the change process, and sustaining reform; (5) develop pedagogical capacities with special emphasis on assessment; and (5) identify opportunities for collaboration among participating teams, program improvement, expansion, and further development.

Each African team will comprise four people and represent an institution of higher education. Ideally, each team will include:

• two educators:
  • one from a science discipline with direct bearing on HIV/AIDS (e.g., biology); and
  • one from a professional discipline with relation to HIV/AIDS (e.g., community development, social work, public health, medicine);
• someone from outside academia working on HIV/AIDS interventions, preferably at the community level (e.g., informal education, counseling) and with an interest to partner with formal educators; and
• an academic administrator with direct influence over curricular matters.

The team approach is specifically chosen to overcome, to the extent possible, the fact that innovators are often "alone." Beyond that, the team composition will insure some diversity of experience, incorporation of campus-community connection, and that someone in a capacity to support reform administratively is working hand-in-hand with the innovators.

At the 2002 SENCER Institute, the African teams will both learn from similarly composed U.S. teams adopting new (SENCER) approaches to science education and, through dedicated workshops, work with them to explore in depth critical issues surrounding

• how these approaches might be applied to the advantage of current academic reform and renewal efforts at their universities;
• how SENCER approaches might be implemented on African campuses in context-appropriate ways and in ways that create new or strengthen existing linkages off-campus;
• the pedagogical capacities at the African universities with special emphasis on assessment for change and reform; and
• opportunities for U.S.-Africa collaboration in the service of curricular innovation and reform for undergraduate science education for civic engagement in both regions.

By the end of the Institute, each African team will be expected to pair with a U.S. team willing to launch an international collaboration to enhance and strengthen initiatives at each other¹s institution. The eight teams so paired will meet at the Institute¹s close with SENCER staff to discuss identified areas of mutual interest and collaboration, next steps for implementation, ongoing communication, etc.

In addition to travel support, each African team will be eligible for a supplemental award of up to US$2,400. These funds will be used to initiate new or strengthen ongoing HIV/AIDS initiatives involving curriculum reform and/or local community outreach. Supplemental awards will be made following approval by AWSE and partners of a one-year work plan developed by each African team with its partner U.S. team. To apply for an award, each team must submit a proposal to AWSE describing:

1. ongoing initiatives at their institution, with special reference to reforming undergraduate science education, fostering civic engagement with HIV/AIDS, strengthening campus-community partnerships around HIV/AIDS, and strengthening the role of women in these efforts;
2. how these initiatives are currently or might be linked to capture complementarities and synergies;
3. next steps in the initiatives; and
4. how they would envision collaboration with a similarly composed U.S. team as supporting these efforts and creating mutual synergies between U.S. and Africa initiatives.

Successful proposals will demonstrate the assurance of "strong commitments" from the home institution that the described efforts will be sustained and that support will be provided to enhance them through international collaboration; the quality and diversity of the team; and the likelihood of strong post-Institute attention to implementing change (with evaluation and assessment) by the team. Members of teams selected for participation will be named "SENCER Associates."

Complete proposals must include:

• a narrative, not to exceed five single-spaced pages, addressing the points enumerated above;
• brief biographical sketches of team members (not to exceed one-half page each), highlighting professional accomplishments as they relate to the themes of this competition;
• curriculum vitae of team members (two pages maximum each); and
• a letter of support from the home institution that addresses the criteria for selection given above.