Leading the Way on Never Settle: Gail Burd

Leading the Way on Never Settle: Gail Burd

By University Relations - Communications
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The UA is at the forefront of a national movement to reform STEM education by making science, technology, engineering and math courses more engaging for students.

In 2013, the UA was one of just eight institutions in the nation selected to receive grant funding through the Association of American Universities' Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, which was established to address a nationwide demand to improve STEM education and to retain more majors and expand the workforce in STEM fields.

Since then, the University has embarked on a number of projects intended to change the thinking around STEM education. Select science courses have been redesigned to be more engaging for students, workshops have been launched to encourage campus instructors to implement new teaching methods in STEM courses, and the recent Collaborative Learning Spaces Project pilot challenged instructors to deliver lessons in an alternative learning space.

All of these efforts align closely with the UA's Never Settle strategic academic and business plan, which calls for all students to engage in hands-on learning opportunities at the UA that will prepare them for life after college.

The Never Settle plan also calls for the University to increase its number of graduates in STEM fields, an area where the UA is excelling. The University is above average nationally in the number of STEM students it graduates. Nearly 18 percent of UA degrees awarded are in STEM fields, compared to the national average of 15.6 percent.

Helping to lead the charge to reform STEM education at the UA is Gail Burd, senior vice provost for academic affairs and University Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. In this video, Burd talks about why we need to start thinking about STEM education differently and how doing so supports the UA's Never Settle plan.


This video is part of a series highlighting the UA's progress on Never Settle and some of the campus leaders who are playing an integral role in helping the University to realize its strategic goals.

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