Hello & thank you for your interest in the inaugural IPE faculty fellows cohort!
This project, being funded by a UTA seed grant for projects on cultural and societal transformation, aims to expand our students' access to transformative experiential and interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities, which can help equip them to be change agents working across systems and in effective teams. In this application, we provide background and information about the project, and then ask you to complete a short application process. We hope to have an initial cohort representing many disciplines and Schools/Colleges across UTA, as such, there will be a screening and selection process conducted by the project team. Inaugural cohort members will be notified by the end of July.
Project Background:
Across health and social service fields, significant gaps exist between team members (e.g., nurses, educators, law enforcement officials, and social workers) due to institutional and disciplinary “silos” which reflect separate roles, outlooks, approaches, and understandings (Taylor, Spence Coffey, & Kashner, 2016). These gaps lead to systemic failures and serious communication challenges among professionals seeking to address complex human challenges, and limit our ability to fully engage in dialog around cultural and societal transformation (Wharton & Burg, 2017). Inter-professional education (IPE) and experiential learning activities provide an opportunity to enhance students’ understanding and response to public health, human well-being, and social justice issues. Data from projects conducted at UTA demonstrate that these pedagogies deepen students' empathy, knowledge and capacity to address complex human dynamics at the outset of their careers (Childress et al, Under Review; Voth Schrag et al, 2020). As students become professionals, data demonstrate the efficacy of an interdisciplinary approach in enhancing communication, improving human outcomes, and amplifying the voices of individuals and communities (Cantrell et al, 2017; Wharton & Burg, 2017). IPE efforts are central to the pedagogy of many disciplines, including Nursing, Athletic Training, and Social Work, and aim to introduce students to the importance of team-based decision making to improve care for vulnerable individuals and communities (IPEC, 2016). However, faculty often report that implementing IPE in the classroom can be challenging and intimidating (Hall & Zierler, 2015). This project aims to support faculty in using IPE and experiential pedagogies in their classrooms (both in person and virtual), and to expand students' access to these kinds of transformational learning opportunities.
Project Activities:
To equip faculty to engage with colleagues and students in IPE, we are launching the inaugural cohort of IPE faculty fellows. Selected from across UTA, fellows will engage in learning activities related to IPE and experiential pedagogy across the 22-23 AY:
- Monthly cohort meetings with opportunities to share experiences and participate in pedagogical training. Monthly topics will be based partly on the needs of the group, and will include subjects such as:
- TeamSTEPPS (shared decision making) training (learn more here:https://www.ahrq.gov/teamstepps/index.html)
- Developing in person and web-based IPE activities
- Inquiry Based Learning Technology Integration
- Engaging students in IPE
- Identifying and facilitating IPEs
- Team with experienced IPE practitioners to implement at least 1 IPE activity in a course you are teaching during FY 22-23. Participants will have access to a wide variety of IPE events occurring across North Texas, as well as those being implemented at UTA, and will receive support and coaching from project team members who are also using IPE pedagogies. Example IPEs that an instructor might want to engage their class in include:
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Common Reading
- Interprofessional Roles and Responsibilities
- Teams and Teamwork
- Discharge Planning
- Emergency Preparedness in Communities
- Shatter the Stigma
- Resiliency in Teamwork
- Child maltreatment identification and reporting
- Domestic Violence Simulation
- Domestic Violence Safety Planning and Assessment
- Poverty Simulation
- Work with the cohort and project team to host a full scale, interuniversity IPE event at UTA in Spring 2023. Together, the group will run a multi-University IPE poverty simulation experience using Missouri Community Action Network’s Poverty Simulation (2022), open to students from across the university along with students from partnering universities including TCU, UNT Health Science Center, and UT Southwestern.
- As this is part of a research project on teaching and learning, faculty cohort members will have the opportunity (though are not required) to participate in focus groups at the beginning and ending of their learning cohort year to reflect on barriers and facilitators to implementing IPE and experiential learning, and the fellowship experience.
Who is eligible to apply:
Current UTA faculty (all ranks, including adjunct) who are newer to using IPE and experiential pedagogies in their classrooms (in person or virtual). Faculty may have participated in no more than one IPE previously with their students. Previous experience as an IPE/experiential learning facilitator or grader without having incorporated the experience into your own coursework is not an exclusion criterion. Faculty should have a course in mind in which they would like incorporate IPE or experiential learning.
Application Process:
If you are interested in applying for the IPE Faculty Fellows Cohort, please click "next" at the bottom of this page, and complete the short application on the following page, which includes contact information, your interest in this work, the types of courses you teach in which you would be interested in including IPE or experiential learning, and a place to upload a CV. All applicants will be notified by the beginning of August.
Who We Are:
This project is being led by an interprofessional team of UTA faculty, all of whom have extensive experience with IPE and/or experiential pedagogies. We came together in hope of sharing our expertise with colleagues and expanding the number of champions for these learning efforts on our campus. We are:
Rachel Voth Schrag, PhD Assistant Professor, School of Social Work (PI)
Tracy Orwig, LCSW, Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Social Work (Co-I)
Ann Cavallo, PhD, Assistant Vice Provost and Director, CRTLE (Co-I)
Andrew Clark, PhD, Associate Director, CRTLE (Co-I)
Kamal Sandhu, Clinical Assistant Professor, Simulation & Smart Hospital CONHI (Co-I)
Laura Kunkel, Clinical Associate Professor, Kinesiology CONHI (Co-I)
Gabriela Whitener, Clinical Assistant Professor, Nursing Undergraduate, CONHI (Co-I)
Erin Carlson, PhD, Clinical Associated Professor, Kinesiology, CONHI (Co-I)
Lynda Jarrell, Clinical Assistant Professor, Nursing Graduate, CONHI (Co-I)
What if I have questions?
Contact Rachel Voth Schrag, project PI and assistant professor in the School of Social Work at rachel.vothschrag@uta.edu
Ready to begin the application? Click START!
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