Initiative

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)

Project Kaleidoscope is AAC&U’s center of STEM higher education reform dedicated to empowering STEM faculty, including those from underrepresented groups, to graduate more students in STEM fields who are competitively trained and liberally educated.

Since its founding in 1989, PKAL has been one of the leading advocates in the United States for transforming undergraduate STEM teaching and learning. It has to date empowered an extensive network of over 7,000 STEM faculty and administrators committed to the principles, practices, and partnerships that advance cutting-edge, integrative STEM higher education for all students. To that end, all PKAL undertakings are uniquely designed to foster quality, diversity, and social responsibility.

PKAL Mission Statement

Project Kaleidoscope has as its mission to empower all US college and university STEM faculty — through a robust community of practice framework — to competitively train and liberally educate every STEM undergraduate.

PKAL Vision

Project Kaleidoscope will lead the nation in catalyzing the reform of undergraduate STEM teaching and accelerate the widespread uptake and adoption thereof.

2023-2024 PKAL Regional Network Event Dates

Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference
November 2-4, 2023

PR PKAL Meeting - In-Person
November 30 – December 2, 2023

Mass PKAL Meeting- Virtual
January 10, 2024

Capital PKAL Meeting - Virtual
March 15, 2024

OH PKAL Meeting - In-Person
April 6, 2024

NC PKAL Meeting - Virtual
April 12, 2024

Mass PKAL Meeting - Hybrid
June 12, 2024

STEM Leadership Institute (SLI)
July 16-21, 2024

  • Regional Networks
    Regional Networks

    The PKAL Regional Networks, established in 2005 with generous support from the National Science Foundation, provide professional development opportunities for all STEM faculty that are highly effective, affordable, and sustainable.

  • PKAL STEM Leadership Institute
    PKAL STEM Leadership Institute

    Forward-looking institutions recognize the value of cultivating leadership capacity among STEM faculty and administrators. To this end, the PKAL STEM Leadership Institute empowers STEM faculty, principal investigators, and administrators to recognize their leadership strengths, navigate the politics of change, address conflicts, and restructure the institutional systems that limit America’s capacity for global competitiveness in STEM fields. Through experiential learning, reflection, and the simulation of diverse lived experiences, participants gain the skills and tools to embrace difference, initiate social change, and guide reform in undergraduate STEM education.

  • My Tenure Trek®
    My Tenure Trek®

    My Tenure Trek® (MTT) is a powerful professional development tool that provides STEM faculty with real life experiences that mirror the influences of power and privilege in STEM higher education.

PKAL Advisory Board

  • The Project Kaleidoscope Advisory Board assists the PKAL Executive Director and AAC&U in establishing and executing a successful strategic plan that builds on PKAL's strengths and experience as well as its alliance with AAC&U.

    Judith Dilts (Past Chair), Associate Dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics and Professor of Biology (emeritus), James Madison University

  • Christine Broussard, Chair of Natural Science Division and Professor of Biology, University of La Verne

    Lilliam Casillas, Professor of Microbiology, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao

    William Davis, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Washington State University-Pullman

    Lilia Harvey, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean of the College, Professor of Chemistry, Agnes Scott College

    David Kanis, Interim Associate Vice President of Grants and Research Administration, Chicago State University

    Ryan Kelsey, Chief Advisor, Achieving the Dream

    Pamela Leggett-Robinson, Executive Director, PLR Consulting

    Lisa Lewis, Professor of Chemistry, Albion College

    David Van Wylen, Dean of Natural and Applied Sciences, Hope College

    Paul Wendel, Associate Professor, Otterbein University

    Lynn Pasquerella (Ex-Officio), President, American Association of Colleges & Universities