This resource includes slides and facilitation framing from a 30-minute interactive session presented at the AACU Transforming STEM in Higher Education Conference (March 1820, 2026; session delivered March 18, 2026). The session introduces a framework that integrates open education and systems thinking to better understand why many promising STEM education innovations fail to persist, and what conditions are needed to support work that can endure, spread, and evolve over time. Drawing on examples from the BioQUEST community, the presentation explores several interconnected design elements that support sustainability, including: long-term, relationship-based communities rather than one-time events distributed leadership and shared ownership of work open, adaptable resources that can be reused, remixed, and extended intentionally connected programming (e.g., BIOME, Faculty Mentoring Networks, and working groups) that supports continued engagement over time a focus on participation over consumption The session is designed to be interactive, with opportunities for participants to reflect on their own experiences, identify where change efforts have struggled, and consider how systems-level conditions shape what is able to last. This resource may be useful for faculty, program leaders, and administrators seeking to design or support STEM education initiatives that are not only innovative, but sustainable and equity-centered. Slides are shared openly to support reuse and adaptation. Users are encouraged to modify, build on, and apply these ideas within their own institutional and community contexts.
Sarah Prescott (Wed,) studied this question.