Inclusive Graduate Programs

An AGEP Pilot in Physics

The Chicago Convening

June 10-11, 2024

 

Aloft Chicago O’Hare

9700 Balmoral Ave

Rosemont, IL 60018

 

Your hotel room and taxes at the Aloft Chicago O’Hare will be paid by the IGP project directly to the hotel. Any incidentals will be billed to the occupant of the room.

There is a free shuttle to and from the hotel. 

  • From Airport: Shuttle picks up at Terminal 2, Door 2E (middle lane, lower level) every :15 and :45 of each hour, between 7am-11pm. Call to request between 11pm-7am.
  • From Hotel: Shuttle leaves at the :00 and :30 of the hour between 7am-11pm. Between 11pm-7am call the front desk to schedule shuttle.

Parking: The cost for parking is $23/day at the hotel and $7.50 at the Big Ten Center (with validation). We are negotiating with the hotel to provide free parking. If you are commuting, park at Big10 and save your receipt and submit for reimbursement.

Big Ten Conference Center

5440 Park Place

Rosemont, IL 60018

 

Parking: The cost for parking is $23/day at the hotel and $7.50 at the Big Ten Center (with validation). We are negotiating with the hotel to provide free parking. If you are commuting, park at Big10 and save your receipt and submit for reimbursement.

Monday, June 10th

Time (CT) Activity
Pre-work Dept teams review summaries of trends; meet with team and review convening objectives
8:30-9:15 

Breakfast (provided)

Breakfast discussions, meet, greet and discuss. Table discussion topics match morning breakouts: Supportive Climate (1); Advising; Unionization
9:15-9:30

Welcome and framing

Framing of agenda/objectives for the convening; 

Project overview and path from convening outcomes to ITA proposal;

Logistics of guided breakouts, team tasks, and support structures.
9:30-10:00

Plenary: Carrie Hall, NSF Program Officer

AGEP projects, pathways to change, successes, trends, future opportunities; AGEP GRF supplements; 
10:00-10:10 Transition and bathroom break
10:10-10:40

Small group discussion

Grouped by career stage; i.e. chairs/dgs, faculty, grad students, administrators; How will our work support physics graduate students? 

The 5 Whys activity to connect values to actions and outcomes
10:40-11:00

Coffee Break/group photo

Team meetings at team worksheet posters; discuss process of developing draft plans.
11:00-12:20

Breakout session 1: Overcoming challenges in physics programs

Three parallel sessions; Supportive Climate (1); Advising; Unionization

  • (5 min) Framing of issue by IGP team, session instructions
  • (25 min) Panel of departments sharing experiences, successes and challenges, answering questions. 
  • (20 min) small groups (mixed) discuss challenge, hesitancies to change and vision for successful change; facilitated by IGP
  • (30 min) small groups  identify change strategies that teams can use into to address the issue; facilitated by IGP

Teams are encouraged to split up to cover more sessions.
12:20-1:20

Lunch (provided)

Table discussions grouped by career stage, i.e. chairs/dgs, faculty, grad students, administrators.  Tables discussion matches afternoon breakouts: Communications/transparency; Admissions;  Neurodiversity
1:20-2:40

Breakout session 2: Overcoming challenges in physics programs

Three parallel sessions; Communications/transparency; Admissions; Neurodiversity

 

  • (5 min) Framing of issue by IGP team, session instructions
  • (25 min) Panel of departments sharing experiences, successes and challenges, answering questions. 
  • (20 min) small groups (mixed) discuss challenge, hesitancies to change and vision for successful change; facilitated by IGP
  • (30 min) small groups  identify change strategies that teams can use into to address the issue; facilitated by IGP

Teams are encouraged to split up to cover more sessions.
2:40-2:50 Transition and bathroom break
2:50-3:50

Plenary: Equity barriers and change strategies

  • Melissa Dancy, Western Michigan, Privileged people sustain inequity and are rarely asked to change
  • Charles Henderson, Western Michigan, Effective Change Strategies in Higher Education
3:50-4:00

Coffee Break

Team meetings at team worksheet posters; share ideas from breakouts and write down initial thoughts for draft plans.
4:00-4:35 

Draft change planning time for institutional teams (1)

IGP facilitators rotating and advising

Teams will complete their draft change plans; identify and plan next steps for ITA proposal
4:35-4:45 Transition time and bathroom break
4:45-5:00 Closeout; celebration; logistics for tonight/ tomorrow
6:00

Optional social event: Chicago Dogs

If you’d like to walk to the stadium as a group, we leave from the hotel lobby at 5:30. Stadium address is: 9850 Balmoral Ave, Rosemont, IL 60018; or self-organized dinner options, signup. 

 

 

Tuesday, June 11th

8:00-8:30 

Breakfast (provided)

Breakfast discussions grouped by career stage; meet, greet, discuss. Topics match morning breakouts: Supportive Climate (2); Bridge Programs; Qualifying Exams. 

Burning questions post-it notes on tables.
8:30-9:00

Welcome Back
Reflections from Day 1, IGP team answers burning questions; 

Guidance for developing draft change plans
9:00-10:20 

Breakout session 3: Overcoming challenges in physics programs

Three parallel sessions; Supportive Climate (2); Bridge Programs; Qualifying Exams

 

  • (5 min) Framing of issue by IGP team, session instructions
  • (25 min) Panel of departments sharing experiences, successes and challenges, answering questions. 
  • (20 min) small groups (mixed) discuss challenge, hesitancies to change and vision for successful change; facilitated by IGP
  • (30 min) small groups identify change strategies that teams can use into to address the issue; facilitated by IGP

Teams are encouraged to split up to cover more sessions.
10:20-10:50

Break/Team Time: 

Team meetings at team worksheet posters; share ideas from breakouts and write down initial thoughts for draft plans.
10:50-11:20

Building the full ITA proposal together

Initial ideas for proposal; feedback from departments

Funding model and potential fund usage; matching support

Timeline of proposal development; EP3 guide and plans
11:20-12:00

IGP Research agenda and plans

Data collection for both department reflection and IGP research

Research questions
12:00-1:00 

Lunch (provided)

Discussion Prompt: Identified Barriers and how to overcome
1:00-1:45

Barriers and hesitancies and strategies to overcome

IGP provide framing around hesitancies; teams will identify likely barriers to achieving their goals within their context and ways to mitigate them
1:45-3:00

Draft change planning time for institutional teams (2)

IGP facilitators rotating and advising

Teams will complete their draft change plans; identify and plan next steps for ITA proposal
3:00-3:30 Wrap up: Next steps; adjourn meeting
3:30 -4:30  Optional team co-working time 

Please book your flight and save the receipt for reimbursement. Record miles traveled by car. I will send you a reminder after the meeting, but please plan to have all receipts that you would like considered for reimbursement uploaded to your assigned Google folder by June 24th. 

We currently calculate that we will have a minimum reimbursement of ~$375 per traveler. Because of NSF and Northwestern rules, we are required to reimburse directly for travel expenses. Some teams are going to have lower travel expenses, which will be used to support teams with greater distance and expense.