Systemic Change Initiatives

In the context of higher education, systemic change refers to the process by which an academic unit makes fundamental changes to the system of education delivery. This involves reevaluating, updating, or replacing key elements of the system such as policies, practices, products, programs, relationships, mindsets, and power structures. Systemic changes are changes that will have long lasting impact and that do not require significant ongoing resources.

Best practices for systemic change

Data, Analysis, and Assistance

Assess readiness for systems change by considering enabling conditions (e.g., use the NCWIT Undergraduate System Model)
Coordinate activities throughout the academic unit and set constructive system change goals (e.g., develop a Departmental
BPC Plan)
Facilitate data analysis and discussion systematically to identify trends (forthcoming NSF LEVEL UP report)
Enhance internal data collection and analysis systems at the university with regard to student disability and accessibility data
Present clear and comprehensive degree maps on department web page, especially useful for incoming 4-year students, transfer students, and students who are/are not calc-ready (e.g., Making a Great Major Requirements Web Page)
Learn about identity and intersectionality and develop inclusive courses (e.g., participate in AIICE’s 3C Fellows Program)
Obtain leadership support from others (e.g., participate in NCWIT’s Higher Ed Learning Circle, work with a BPCnet
Consultant on BPC activities)

Course Updates

Restructure introductory computing courses to address differing levels of prior experience (e.g., Black and Gold sections)
Implement common assessment in the intro sequence (e.g., BPC Relevance of Common Assessment)
Place computing in context in the intro sequence and encourage non-majors to discover something (e.g., CS0: Culture and
Coding, Biology-based CS1)

Degree Structure Updates

Make CS0/CS1 fulfill a gen ed requirement, promoting discovery of computing for everyone
Centralize the process for recruiting, training, and evaluating TAs (e.g., Evaluating Teaching Assistants)
Train all first-time undergraduate and graduate TAs (e.g., forth coming NSF Level UP report, AIICE’s Teaching Assistant
Professional Development Course, Teaching Assistant Training)
Align co-curricular supports with changes/updates to intro sequence and degree pathways (e.g., BPC Importance of
Advising)
Remove GPA-based enrollment caps to the major (e.g., harms
to restricted access)
Introduce interdisciplinary computing majors (e.g., Computing
in the Arts, Computational Media, CS+X Degree Programs)
Add a BA computing major (e.g., ACM SIGCSE 2022 paper)

This page is being developed by the NSF LEVEL UP project in collaboration with NSF Alliances. Content on this page will be updated as more best practices become available. To recommend updates to this page, please contact us.

Systemic Change Initiatives

What is systemic change?

Best practices for systemic change

Data, Analysis, and Assistance

Course Updates

Degree Structure Updates

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