Welcome to the NSF Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Aspire Alliance!
The Aspire Alliance has developed strategies and resources to enhance faculty development, leadership capabilities, and institutional policies and practices that build supportive academic cultures. The Alliance operates through three change teams: Institutional Change, Regional Change, and National Change. Through collaboration with the NSF's Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES National Network and over 200 organizational partners, the Aspire Alliance has established a national platform for STEM faculty advancement.
The Alliance formally concluded its development and incubation work in 2024. Key strategies and initiatives have been embedded with sustainable partners who will be continuing these efforts. For more information on continuing efforts, see activities listed under "Continuing Activities" below.
Aspire Outreach and Impact
4300+ participants engaged. 1700+ professional development activities.
203 organizational partners.
151 colleges and universities engaged in Aspire.
88 Fellows supported in the IAspire Leadership Academy.
65 4-year institutions across 5 cohorts in Institutional Change.
9 Regional Collaboratives with 35, 4-year and 22, 2-year institutions.
Continuing Efforts
Institutional Change Initiative
APLU’s Institutional Change initiative (IChange) helps public research universities create the environment and policies that attract, retain, and support a thriving faculty to advance the institution’s education, research, and engagement missions. IChange uses an institutional-and community-based approach to create a customized action plan that helps colleges and universities implement supportive practices and policies for faculty recruitment, hiring, and retention. IChange provides frameworks and tools to support institutions as they tackle challenges and improve their academic workplace.
For more information, visit https://www.aplu.org
The SEER Institute
The SEER Institute, hosted by the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and developed from the National Change team, helps teams, projects, and organizations see the many contextual layers involved in change efforts, advance productive dialogue across constituents, understand team dynamics, plan change projects strategically, and build sustainable change. We offer five services: strategic planning, grant development, collaborative dynamics enhancement, organizational change development, research and evaluation, and professional development.
For more information, visit http://theseerinstitute.org
Regional Change
The Regional Collaborative (RC), hosted by the Office of Community College Research & Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois and developed from the Regional Change team, establishes and sustains community college and university partnerships, building pathways for graduate students who want to explore and secure positions as STEM faculty. RCs are networked nationwide through postsecondary institutions that make up Aspire’s Regional Change Team. This team improves programming and partnerships to prepare the STEM faculty of the future that mirror and inspire the community college students they serve.
For more information, visit https://occrl.illinois.edu/nsf-includes-aspire-alliance