Program Sustainability: Building Institutional Commitment for Teacher Education

Even in a thriving Physics Teacher Education program, the number of students enrolled is typically smaller than for other STEM disciplines. Small enrollments present institutional challenges that start at the Department and can increase in severity as the administrative level increases. For~program sustainability~and growth, building institutional support is crucial. Successful argumentation though must be contextualized depending on the audience. A Department chair---almost by construction, and definitely by design---tends to have different~concerns than the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics,~who in turn has different priorities than the dean of the College of Education or the provost. In this workshop, some general features of programs with strong institutional support will be presented, as well as case studies at different types of institution. Attendees will also work with~colleagues from other universities to identify specific communication strategies that can be helpful in their context and will begin to create an individualized action plan to implement at their home institution to meet their own sustainability challenges.