Transforming STEM Education through Collaborative Leadership at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

17:es13, 1 H istorically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) currently represent ∼3% of all higher education institutions in the United States.Yet they produce nearly 25% of all African-American baccalaureates and 20% of African-American baccalaureates in science and engineering in particular (Mack et al., 2011).Further, HBCUs serve as the baccalaureate origin of nearly 25% of African-American PhD recipients in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM; Fiegener and Proudfoot, 2013).Consequently, HBCUs, including North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T), have played and continue to play a critical role in addressing underrepresentation in STEM and in studying mechanisms related to broadening participation in these disciplines (Goins et al., 2009;Mack et al., 2011).At NCA&T, a group of faculty members and administrators have used a collaborative leadership approach (Chrislip and Larson, 1994) to broadly adopt and scale faculty use of effective pedagogies.Collaborative leadership, initially described by Chrislip and Larson in 1994, embodies a leadership approach that places an emphasis on "bringing people together in constructive ways to create an authentic vision and develop strategies for addressing the shared concerns of the community."This brand of shared leadership fosters ownership in solving problems and promotes ingenuity by breaking down silos between groups, particularly in higher education, which often limit the advancement of change.Collaborative leadership includes input and contributions from all levels within the university (see Figure 1).At NCA&T, campus leadership established the vision for the university, created and sustained an infrastructure and environment that helps to advance that vision, and partnered with faculty in the conceptualization of projects and redesign of intellectual spaces for teaching and learning innovation.For example, in Fall 2010, NCA&T initiated the development of a comprehensive strategic plan to advance STEM research and education on the campus.After several months of focus groups, surveys, benchmarking, and other data-collection methods, "A&T Preeminence 2020: Embracing Our Past, Creating our Future" emerged as the university's vision for change.The plan was designed to position NCA&T as a premier research institution of higher education with a STEM focus, while preserving the core values of learning, excellence, integrity, respect, creativity, engagement, and service that underpin its unique heritage.Central to the strategic plan was the university's commitment to enhancing its intellectual climate and ensuring that students are integrated into stimulating, inquiry-based learning environments that promote their success.A group of university administrators and faculty led by the chancellor then aimed to create and sustain a conducive environment by seeking a corporate gift from the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline (NC GSK) Foundation to create a STEM Center of Excellence for Active Learning (SCEAL).The goal of SCEAL is to transform teaching