Gardner Institute named as one of 12 Intermediaries for Scale. New national initiative designed to yield equitable higher education outcomes at scale
BREVARD, NC. (January 9, 2020) –The John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (Gardner Institute) is pleased to share that it has been selected by, and will receive a grant from, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to serve as an Intermediary for Scale. The designation and related funding will support 12 organizations in their work to facilitate institutional transformation at colleges and universities in the United States – transformation that directly addresses inequitable performance gaps in higher education
For over 20 years, the Gardner Institute and its partners have worked with over 400 postsecondary institutions to create and implement evidence-based plans that transform various aspects of the undergraduate experience. Foci include the first college year, gateway courses, the transfer experience, and academic advising. When implemented to a high degree, these plans have yielded significant increases in retention and decreases in course failure rates. These outcomes help equip and empower people to live healthy and productive lives.
The Gardner Institute was selected as an Intermediary for Scale following a competitive, 12-month review process. The grant monies will allow the Gardner Institute to undertake a planning project with the working title Accelerating the PACE: Moving Just and Equitable Pedagogy, Advising, and Curriculum Excellence from the Frontier to the Mainstream (PACE). The acronym PACE is an abbreviation for Pedagogy, Advising, and Curriculum Excellence.
The planning process is designed to yield a comprehensive model for institutional transformation for achieving and sustaining equitable student success outcomes in gateway courses, curricular pathways, and the broader academic advising ecosystem that supports successful and equitable student completion. Improvements in these areas help all students succeed – especially those from historically marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds.
“We are honored to be selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as an Intermediary for Scale,” stated Dr. Andrew (Drew) Koch, the Gardner Institute’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “Over the next twenty-four months, we will work to create a plan that helps us scale efforts that identify and then mitigate unjust design and inequitable outcomes in higher education. Our goal is to bring that plan to action with potentially hundreds of institutions once the planning work has concluded.”
“The project provides our non-profit Institute with a wonderful opportunity to develop next generation ways in which we facilitate assessment-based change in higher education in the United States,” added Dr. John N. Gardner, the Institute’s co-founder, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer. “It will help us determine the best ways in which the Institute and its partners can guide actions that colleges and universities can use to help address the unfinished agenda of the Civil Rights movement.”
As part of the Intermediaries for Scale effort, the Gardner Institute will work with the 11 other organizations on four equity-focused priorities. These include:
1. Increase awareness of successful and promising transformation strategies among campus leaders and communities.
2. Inform key campus-level decisions about change options and strategies and supporting decision-makers.
3. Support transformation by providing guidance and resources for adopting, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining changes in policy and practice.
4. Build connections across colleges and universities and other supporting organizations to accelerate and streamline learning and sharing of promising practices.
“The Gardner Institute’s Board of Directors is in full support of this important endeavor,” said Dr. Laura Rendón, Professor Emerita, University of Texas-San Antonio and Gardner Institute Board member. “The equity and social justice focus of the Intermediary for Scale effort could not be better aligned with the Gardner Institute’s Board-approved mission. The Board and staff of the Institute are deeply committed to the success of the project and its broader societal goals.”
The Intermediaries for Scale effort commences during January 2020 and will last until December 2021. More on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Intermediaries for Scale effort can be found at this link.
About the Gardner Institute :
The John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education is a national non-profit organization focused on partnering with higher education institutions, individual educators, and other entities to improve student learning, persistence, and completion. In doing so, it seeks to advance higher education’s broader goals of equity and social justice. The Gardner Institute and its partners help higher education and related organizations to individually and/or collectively define or redefine excellence in undergraduate education – especially in gateway courses, the first college year, the transfer experience, and academic advising. For more information, visit www.jngi.org.
For more information contact: Katie Locke Director, Marketing and Communications Gardner Institute
locke@jngi.org / 828-210-2408