Iowa State University (ISU) is a public, four-year university in Eastern Iowa. About one-third of full-time faculty at ISU are in VITAL roles, positions they refer to as term faculty. Term faculty have promotion line opportunities that mirror tenure-line faculty; across five specialized roles (teaching, practice, clinical, research, and adjunct),…

The University of Georgia (UGA) is the flagship public research university for the state of Georgia. Located in Athens, UGA enrolls about 40,000 students across 18 colleges. UGA awards baccalaureate, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. About 43% of full-time faculty at UGA are in VITAL faculty roles, with a majority of VITAL faculty in…

University of Denver (DU) is a private, research university in Colorado. Located in Denver, DU enrolls approximately 14,000 students across 10 colleges. About 41% of full-time faculty at DU are in non-tenure track positions, which they refer to as Term and Professional Faculty (TPF). DU has expanded promotion opportunities for TPF that mirror…

Although research alliances (RAs) have long been seen as mutualistic and reciprocal, RAs face numerous obstacles navigating stakeholders' differing goals, incentives, and information. This longitudinal, comparative case study of two RAs uses principal-agent theory to analyze these interdependent challenges and their relationship to RA strategy and…

This case study outlines the process of designing and implementing a professional development program that is inclusive of VITAL faculty within the College of Science and Mathematics at Kennesaw State University. We begin by providing background about the institution and developments that precipitated the creation of the 2022 Faculty Learning…

Boise State University is a public doctoral research institution located in Boise, Idaho, with an enrollment of approximately 26,000 students. Of the approximately 1,400 faculty members at Boise State, 76% are in VITAL (contingent) positions, including 43% part-time and 33% full-time. The Adjunct Faculty Learning Community (AFLC) is a program…

Leadership preparation is essential in developing critical skills of effective school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs vary greatly in terms of program features, it is important to identify which specific elements are likely associated with program quality. Using multiple years of Initiative for Systemic Program Improvement…

This report describes a 15-month collaboration between three Every Learner Everywhere partner organizations (Achieving the Dream, the American Association of Public and Land-grant Universities [APLU], and Digital Promise) and five colleges, all engaged in a research-practice partnership (RPP) around enhancing equity and digital learning in gateway…

Collective impact is an organizational model that is often used as a tool for solving complex social problems through cross-sector collaboration. Traditional applications of this model require a separate backbone organization to oversee the organizational partnership. Using qualitative data from a larger mixed methods study, we examined…

The English pre-service teacher education system has changed substantially over the past 20 years. There has been a significant shift towards pre-service teachers having their training fully or partially managed and delivered by schools themselves, without the need for university input. However, despite this, the majority of such teacher training…

This study aims to investigate the Swiss initial vocational education and training (IVET) partnership from the perspective of several stakeholders on the ground. Collaboration between stakeholders is essential in dual IVET to connect school- and workplace-based learning and to ensure the quality of the entire system. However, such collaboration…

Research-practice partnerships are collaborative research arrangements that seek to transform the relations among researchers, educators, and communities. There is a wide diversity in partnership forms and research methods used in them. In addition, there remain questions about the value of partnerships, given the time and resources they require…

Faculty from two universities in Florida and Ohio designed, developed, and implemented programs to work with youth from their respective service regions to support college and career readiness initiatives. Both programs were directed by university faculty and utilized university resources to support K-12 students' career development skills. In…

This is the executive summary of the report, "Combining Researchers' and Practitioners' Intelligences for STEM Improvement: A Study of the Local Labs of the Research and Practice Collaboratory." The Research and Practice Collaboratory (RPC) supported projects in three states--California, Maine, and Washington--that had the function of…

The Research and Practice Collaboratory (RPC) supported projects in three states--California, Maine, and Washington--that had the function of serving as "Local Labs" for the RPC. While these labs worked independently on specific, local STEM improvement problems, RPC leaders held themselves to shared conjectures (cite) about their work…