The Colonial Academic Alliance is awarding four grants totaling $156,500 to kick off its new Innovate/Collaborate (IN/CO) program.

Elon, N.C. (Updated April 24, 2018) – The Colonial Academic Alliance is awarding four grants totaling $156,500 to kick off its new Innovate/Collaborate (IN/CO) Grant Program.

The grants were given to four multi-institutional teams from the 10-member Alliance to pursue collaborative initiatives. Funded projects include:

• Tracking Experiential Learning Outcomes Across Three CAA Campuses | $40,000
  Drexel University, College of Charleston, University of North Carolina Wilmington
• Innovative Strategies for High Impact Practices: Access, Success, and the CAA Student-Athlete | $42,500
  Elon University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, College of Charleston, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, Towson University, College of William & Mary
• Learning to Learn: A Student Operator’s Manual for the Brain | $34,000
  Elon University, Hofstra University
• Engaging Difference:
A Deep Dive into the Assessment of Transformative Learning | $40,000
  James Madison University, Elon University

The grants are the first to be awarded under the Alliance’s new IN/CO Grant Program. The IN/CO Program was launched in 2017, providing grants of $5,000—$20,000 per year (for two years) for initiatives that address pressing policy challenges in higher education; fuel collaboration between institutions; enhance institutional excellence; and promote innovation in intellectual inquiry.

“The IN/CO Grant Program affords our member institutions a unique opportunity to work together with other universities and develop creative initiatives to address shared challenges,” said Lindsey Interlante, Executive Director of the Colonial Academic Alliance. “Given the diversity and geographic range of our members, we believe that IN/CO Grant awardees will positively impact their institutions, advance scholarship on teaching and learning, and bring a fresh perspective to some of the shared challenges we face in higher education.”

IN/CO Grants were created to fund teams of faculty and staff from two or more Alliance member institutions. Awards were selected by the Alliance’s Provosts’ Council, its governing board. Any future opportunities for funding will be publicized on the Alliance’s website, www.caa-academics.org.

The Colonial Academic Alliance facilitates collaboration and communication across its 10 member institutions. Its purpose is to engage faculty, staff, and students in meaningful initiatives that challenge the status quo, enrich the academic environment, and advance student success. Alliance members include the College of Charleston, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Elon University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Northeastern University, Towson University, and the College of William & Mary.

Among the challenges of measuring the educational impact of experiential learning is that a diverse array of experiences–from course-based projects to study abroad to internships, to name but a few–can all be considered as experiential/applied learning . Typical approaches to assessing experiential learning include assessments of students’ perceptions of the value of the experience. This project team seeks to develop a richer understanding of the specific learning and student development that takes place in experiential learning opportunities, as well as the impact on student learning in subsequent coursework, academic programs, and further applied learning settings.

Updates & Progress

Drexel University hosted the first post-award grant team meeting in November 2017. During this session, the project team discussed existing experiential learning assessment tools and practices on each campus, the infrastructure required (e.g., offices involved, systems used to collect data, availability of existing data), the instrument development process, and grant sustainability. University of North Carolina Wilmington convened the project team for a second in-person meeting in February 2018, focusing on the identification of common student learning outcomes and the logistics of piloting the instrument across all three campuses. College of Charleston hosted a third in-person meeting of the IN/CO grant team in April 2018 to review the draft instrument; examine platforms, delivery, and timeline; and follow up on mining current data. Opportunities for future funding and project sustainability were also discussed.

Over the next academic year, the draft instrument will be piloted with a diverse range of students who have participated in experiential learning opportunities. Focus groups will be conducted with participating students to gauge both student perceptions and the efficacy of the instrument in capturing data. The project team will also present on this grant at the fifth annual Drexel Assessment Conference (September 12-14, 2018).

Meet the Experiential Learning IN/CO Grant Team 

Principal Investigators 

Project Team

Not pictured: 

Interested in what Alliance institutions are saying about these grants? Check out the following: 

http://today.cofc.edu/2018/03/13/cofc-joins-colonial-academic-alliance-members-research/

https://uncw.edu/news/2018/02/uncw-awarded-80,000-in-caa-innovatecollaborate-grants.html

High impact practices (HIPs), such as study abroad, internships, learning communities, and undergraduate research, have repeatedly been shown to positively affect academic performance, yet not all students have equal access. Given the high time demands and resource constraints, many student-athletes are particularly limited in their ability to participate in HIPs. To fuel the success and academic experiences of CAA student-athletes, the Alliance awarded a $42,500 IN/CO Grant focused on “Innovative Strategies for High Impact Practices: Access, Success, and the CAA Student-Athlete.” This grant involves nine of the ten CAA member institutions.

Project Goals 

The long-term goal of this work is to develop transferable solutions, at both the institutional and conference level, to allow for greater student-athlete participation in HIPs. The short-term goals for this project are first to assess and understand student-athlete opportunities for HIPs at CAA institutions and subsequently to develop best practices, improving access and success of student-athletes around HIPs.

Timeline & Objectives 

Progress Update

In spring 2018, the project team surveyed each CAA institution to create a snapshot of HIP offerings and student athlete participation in HIPs. In summer/fall 2018, academic affairs leaders, athletic academic advisors, and department chairs will receive a second survey on institutional priorities, definitions of HIPs, and operationalization of HIPs on each campus to inform the project’s future direction. In addition, a document analysis exploring the marketing of HIPs on CAA institution websites was initiated.

The project team will present accepted abstracts for presentation to the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (October 24-26 – Bergen, Norway) and the 5th annual Drexel Assessment Conference (September 12-14, 2018).

Meet the HIPs/Student-Athlete IN/CO Grant Team 

Principal Investigators

Institutional Leads 

Interested in what Alliance institutions are saying about these grants? Check out the following: 

https://www.elon.edu/E-Net/Article/159017

http://today.cofc.edu/2018/03/13/cofc-joins-colonial-academic-alliance-members-research/

https://uncw.edu/news/2018/02/uncw-awarded-80,000-in-caa-innovatecollaborate-grants.html

Interested in what Alliance institutions are saying about this grant? Check out the following: 

https://www.elon.edu/E-Net/Article/159167

During the first round of IN/CO Grant submissions, the Alliance received three extremely strong proposals on global education from faculty at James Madison University and Elon University. Given that all three proposals dealt with engaging difference and effectively evaluating students’ experiences, the Alliance Provosts’ Council asked these three groups to participate in a Think Tank, aimed at developing one common research outcome.

The Think Tank was a success, and resulted in a $40,000 IN/CO Grant award for the combined team’s project, “Engaging Difference: A Deep Dive Into the Assessment of Transformative Learning.”

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