PKAL Regional Networks

The PKAL Regional Networks, established in 2005 with generous support from the National Science Foundation, provide professional development opportunities for all STEM faculty that are highly effective, affordable, and sustainable. These Networks annually bring hundreds of STEM faculty together; and serve as the foundational framework for modern STEM pedagogies to be implemented with accuracy, precision and fidelity across institution types, and across all STEM disciplines.

Specifically, each Network is active in conducting up to two regional meetings per academic year, focusing on various topics of interest to the STEM higher education community and its commitment to advancing what works in undergraduate STEM education. The work of the PKAL Regional Networks is also enriched and extended through collaborative efforts that extend to STEM related professional societies and organizations, non-STEM faculty, administrators and other campus leaders.

In sum, Regional Networks are essential in providing the professional networking processes for STEM faculty that not only support faculty development, but also enhance undergraduate STEM student learning and content mastery, and facilitate institutional change. The PKAL Regional Networks are also important mechanisms for broadly and synchronously disseminating best practices within and across particular institutional contexts.

Overall, it is expected that PKAL Regional Networks offer a strategic approach and significant contribution to the reform of STEM higher education by significantly impacting undergraduate STEM education, minimizing disciplinary boundaries and barriers, expanding spheres of influence in STEM higher education and promoting the career advancement of STEM faculty.