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Collaborative Projects

The Yes We Must Coalition has several collaborative projects underway.

Yes We Must is a coalition of smaller institutions of higher learning that focuses in a particular way on the needs of at-risk and underprepared students, most of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds of one kind or another. Engagement with Yes We Must colleagues is invariably student-focused, hands-on, and collaborative. I found the relationships shared with other members to be highly satisfying and most productive. Most importantly, Yes We Must members don’t just talk! They collaborate to ensure their students’ success. They walk the talk!
Daniel Lowery, Past President, Calumet College of St. Joseph

The Wheel, the Yes We Must Coalition Online Consortium.  This consortium, hosted and supported by the platform Acadeum, allows students at any member institution to take online courses offered by any other member institution. The student pays regular tuition at the enrolling institution, which pays $500 per course to Acadeum for the teaching institution. The Consortium enables member institutions to share academic resources and infrastructure. Collaborative planning of course offerings and consortial majors/minors is under discussion. Support for low-income students: speed time to completion through course availability; online courses taught by faculty attentive to students’ needs to increase success. Find more info on The Wheel here >

Student Exchange Program.  This program allows students enrolled at member schools to spend time on the campus of another member school in a different geographic and cultural setting while receiving the personalized support they have at their home institution. Support for low-income students: an opportunity to explore a new learning environment on a welcoming campus at a low cost. Find more info on the Student Exchange Program here.

National Science Foundation S-STEM.  Four member schools are collaborating on the implementation of this five-year grant, awarded in 2017, to provide multiple supports for low-income students to persist in science majors to graduation and to careers in STEM fields. Find more info on the National Science Foundation S-STEM here.

National Science Foundation IUSE.  Five member schools are pursuing a grant to use a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURES) approach in the teaching of science.

The YWMC has been invaluable for both Blackburn’s administrative offices and faculty. For example, in addition to valuable conversations with administrative peer counterparts, faculty have discussed curricular improvements and sharing within both justice education and Criminal Justice majors. Science faculty developed a collaborative academic S-STEM grant to the National Science Foundation. Additionally, the courses sharing consortium, The Wheel, has allowed Black­burn to more efficiently and cost-effectively move off-sequence students to timely graduation. John McClusky, Former Provost, Blackburn College

Free Webinars.  The Coalition hosts periodic webinars on topics related to increasing success for low-income students, often presented by representatives from member schools.

Practices Exchange Newsletter.  The newsletter is open to contributions from any member institution and is a way to share best practices among YWMC membership. To see past issues, click here to go to the Publications/Webinars page.

Criminal Justice Programs.  Member schools share curricular approaches and resources to ensure that their criminal justice and social justice advocacy programs prepare professionals to understand structural racism and classism in the criminal justice system and how, as criminal justice professionals, they can be change makers.

Open Forums on Zoom.  Periodic Zoom sessions provide a place to exchange ideas relevant for our campuses in these times. Anyone from a member institution can join the general forums, and all faculty are welcome for the faculty forums.

Yes We Must Coalition Workshops.  Workshops are two-session events led by a subject expert and bring together teams of 2-6 college personnel from member and aligned schools to engage in learning and action-oriented planning for developing equity initiatives.   Teams complete a pre-workshop worksheet that heightens their readiness and are asked to complete an assignment in between sessions that applies learning.  Workshops foster cross-institutional sharing and relationship-building which may be continued through a Community of Practice on the workshop topic. Member fees for workshops are reduced.

Community of Practice for Equity.  Meeting quarterly in Zoom, this discussion group is open to all faculty and staff at member schools and focuses on identifying and changing structures, policies and practices that privilege some students and create barriers for others.  The objective is to share with and learn from one another with the possibility of engaging together in productive actions.  

Community of Practice for Affordable Texts/Course Materials.  Stemming from a workshop on this topic, this Community of Practice is open to all members for cross-campus discussion and collaborative sharing to expand use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and other affordable options that can make a radical difference in students’ persistence and academic success. 

Community of Practice for Credit for Prior Learning.  Stemming from a workshop on this topic, this Community of Practice is open to all members for cross-campus discussion and collaborative sharing to expand possibilities for exploring and valuing the learning experiences low-income students frequently bring to their pursuit of a college degree through equitable approaches to credit for prior learning.

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