Dear ACM and University of Chicago Colleagues:

With apologies for the time that has passed since our last meeting, I write to update you on the priorities that have begun to emerge in the our  shared Excel workbook and to encourage those who have yet to highlight your institutional priorities to do so on your college’s tab at the bottom. At present, we have five ACM colleges whose priorities are not yet reflected in the preliminary list of priorities below.

Among those colleges that have responded, the near- and long-term priorities sort as follows (see tabulations on the Projects and Priorities Matrix tab in the shared workbook):

Short-term Priorities

1. Enhanced Access to Data Science Resources – Shared syllabi and other course resources

2. Defining and Integrating Data Science Curriculum Across Educational Models – Experiential Learning Opportunities
1. UChicago Clinic – Modeled on Harvey Mudd Clinic
2. Civic/industry partnerships

Student Pathway Programs – Summer lab opportunities for ACM students/UChicago Summer Labs (DEI Focus)

3. Faculty/Student Research Collaborations – Define the field of data science

Course/Seminar Collaborations – ACM and UChicago faculty visits to seminars/classrooms

Longer-term Priorities (excluding those already on short-term list)

1. Course/Seminar Collaborations – ACM faculty mentors at UChicago Summer Labs

2. Faculty/Student Research Collaborations - Expand research bridges across disciplines

Student Pathway Programs – “Three plus one” or “four plus one” programs

3. Defining and Integrating Data Science Curriculum across Education Models - Curricular design concepts – MasterCard Foundation project funded at UChicago

Student Pathway Programs – Other UChicago high school programs w/ potential for ACM college enrollments – Collegiate Scholars Program

Enhanced Access to Data Science Resources – Shared computational resources for ACM faculty

1. Shared project/data set for student projects (Chameleon)
2. Shared project/data set for faculty research projects (Chameleon)

Next Steps:

• So that we can begin to identify collaborative strategies that might enable the short-term priorities, please go to this WhenIsGood poll to note the dates/times at which you can be available for our next meeting.
• If you have not yet identified your institution’s priorities in our shared workbook, please do so by going to your college’s tab and select “True” in the cell as appropriate for the “short-term,” “longer term,” and “not a priority” options.
• Please also feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the roster of short and long-term priorities above or about how to make your preferences known in the shared workbook.

Thanks in advance. I hope this finds all of you well and look forward to our next conversation.

Best wishes,

Brian

Brian Williams

Vice President for Faculty Development and Grant Programs

Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM)

180 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2020, Chicago, IL  60601

Phone: 312.561.5922 | Fax: 312.263.5879

E-mail: bwilliams@ACM.edu | Web: ACM.edu