A network approach to vertical transfer and articulation for student success in biology: A fourth workshop hosted by the Northwest Biosciences Consortium RCN-UBE

The Northwest Bioscience Consortium (NWBC) is an NSF funded RCN‐UBE group working to align introductory biology curricula in the Pacific Northwest with the concepts and competencies of Vision and Change. During the last four years, the NWBC has hosted three workshops providing faculty development opportunities for colleagues across the region focused on classroom inclusivity, designing curricula for majors' introductory biology classes, and designing curricula for non‐majors introductory biology courses. We now report on our fourth winter workshop, entitled “A network approach to vertical transfer and articulation for student success in biology.” Held February 8–9, 2018, this workshop brought together faculty and administrative participants to collaborate on the NWBC model that all students are transfer students, whether they are transitioning from one institution to another or from introductory courses to advanced courses within the same institution. Day one of the workshop addressed issues affecting faculty, advisors, and administrators working with students in introductory biology courses, including state level initiatives mandating course topic coverage. The second day facilitated faculty groups working on common curricular outcomes to help students be successful in introductory biology courses and in vertical transfer to advanced biology courses. Here we present an overview of our workshop accomplishments and future plans for the NWBC and its RCN‐UBE funding. Support or Funding Information This work is funded by NSF RCN‐UBE 1248121. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .