The SENCER Summer Institute (SSI) is an annual, intensive, residential, team-based learning opportunity for educators, academic leaders, and students. The Institutes represent the cornerstones of SENCER's faculty development and academic reform program. The SSI features a rich mix of plenaries, workshops, and concurrent sessions that focus on not only what students should learn, but how that learning might be accomplished.
We invite applications from teams and individual educators, administrators and students interested in learning more about the SENCER approach and how to improve courses and programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Participation is by invitation only, and all interested in attending must submit an application for consideration.
The Institute program is designed to introduce participants to SENCER and the approaches used to infuse civic engagement into courses and programs, as well as to provide opportunities for SSI alumni to report on new and advanced campus-based implementations. Several sessions focused on the work of SENCER alumni in the Chicago area, where several colleges and universities have successfully implemented courses and programs on a variety of topics for students majoring both in the STEM subjects and other disciplines.
Each Summer Institute program has featured half-day workshops that allow participants to intensively concentrate on topics of particular interest. Past sessions, which have generally been scheduled immediately before or after the main program time, have focused on such topics as writing intensive courses, grant writing, public health, critical thinking, and course design. This year, the workshops were included in the general Institute program to allow all participants to take part, regardless of travel schedules.
To take advantage of the rich history, culture, and architecture of Chicago, SENCER coordinated optional activities around the city for participants and their families. More information will be available to participants in the spring, following invitations.
We encourage you to sign up for our mailing list to make sure you receive the most updated information on SSI 2009. Please do not hesitate to contact SENCER at sencer@sencer.net or (202) 483-4600 with questions about the Institute.
Future Institutes
SSI 2010 will be hosted by the University of North Carolina at Asheville and is tentatively scheduled for July 29 - August 2, 2010. More information will be posted to this website and announced in the eNews during the fall of 2009. Please sign up for the SENCER mailing list to receive all information.
