EvoS receives NSF grant to expand into a nationwide consortium
EvoS is about to go national, thanks to a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant is awarded jointly to Binghamton University and SUNY New Paltz, which initiated a sister program in 2007. The funds will be used to develop the two programs and especially to create a nationwide consortium of programs patterned after EvoS.
The consortium is designed to include the full range of institutions, from major research universities to community colleges. It will begin with fifteen institutions and is designed to be open-ended with respect to additional members. There are graded levels of participation so that institutions can develop their programs incrementally.
The consortium concept includes the following features:
- An introductory “Evolution for Everyone” course that is taught in a coordinated fashion across institutions.
- A modular format for the “Evolution for Everyone” course, making it easy to implement and for instructors to contribute to the inventory of modules.
- Shared assessment services, so that all institutions have access to the same surveys, which are maintained as a single database for analysis within and among institutions.
- A consortium-wide EvoS seminar series that explores all topics from an evolutionary perspective, including an archive of past seminars and a service for helping member institutions add their seminars to the archive.
- An electronic journal for the consortium that provides a forum for undergraduate students in addition to graduate students and faculty.
- A consulting service and seed grant program to help new member institutions join the consortium.
- Promotion of the EvoS consortium at annual meetings of major scientific societies.
An advisory board coordinates the EvoS consortium with other organizations dedicated to teaching evolution, including a) The Evolution Education Research Center; b) the journal Evolution, Education, and Outreach; c) The National Center for Science Education (NCSE); d) The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), and e) the University of California’s Museum of Paleontology.
The inaugural consortium members are Albright College, Broome Community College, California State University at Fullerton, Cornell University, Grand Valley State College, New England University, Northern Illinois University, Palomar College, SUNY Oswego, University of Arizona, University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Kansas, and the University of Miami. Additional institutions wishing to join the consortium should contact David Sloan Wilson (Binghamton University), Glenn Geher (SUNY New Patlz), or Jennifer Waldo (SUNY New Paltz).
Copy of the NSF proposal (PDF)
Guidelines for prospective new members (PDF)
Posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 by EvoS.
