Achievement

The CHANGE-IGERT training is the second most popular graduate certificate in the Nelson Institute (with about 10 annual completions). CHANGE is popular because it teaches practical interdisciplinary communication skills as well as a variety of quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques. As part of their training, CHANGE students are required to explain one another’s research approaches and topics to each other. As a result, CHANGE students understand the types of questions that each discipline tackles, and how different techniques are appropriate for those questions. With Associates from many disciplines working alongside Trainees, CHANGE provides a greater diversity of disciplinary perspectives than the Trainees might get in a closed program. One Trainee said that “The CHANGE capstone course is a highlight of my academic career,” and that it, “has encouraged intellectual flexibility and trained me to communicate ideas from my own discipline to variety of audiences.”