Looking to increase your outreach in Minnesota high schools? Expand equity, access, and interest in your academic field by partnering with the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (U of M) College in the Schools program (CIS).
CIS is a concurrent enrollment program that partners with U of M faculty and departments to provide a bridge between high school and college. The program connects instructors with discipline-specific communities of practice and students with U of M course experiences at partner schools throughout the state.
This dynamic alliance cultivates interest in academic areas of study and contributes to the growth of college- and career-minded students, many of whom go on to enroll at the University. Read on to learn about the departments who partner with CIS and how the program works. Then, join us!
How Does it Work?
Concurrent enrollment is one model of dual enrollment—an umbrella term used for various models of early college programming—in which high school students take college courses in their high school classrooms. In the case of CIS, students get a jump start on their college careers by taking U of M courses taught by high school instructors who also are U of M teaching specialists.
As students experience the pace and challenge of U of M courses, they earn both high school and college credit.
What's Involved in Partnership?
Departments agree to offer and sustain U of M introductory courses at partner high schools through CIS. Department personnel work with CIS to identify a faculty member interested in the alignment of P–20 education to serve as CIS faculty coordinator, guiding and mentoring high school educators in the teaching of the U of M courses. These are the same courses U of M faculty teach on campus.
CIS administers and supports all aspects of the program with the CIS faculty coordinator, who serves as department liaison.
The Faculty Coordinator Leadership Role
CIS faculty coordinators provide meaningful professional education for high school teachers and enable U of M outreach and collaborations with high schools. Faculty coordinators are key to the development of respectful, dynamic, discipline-specific cohorts of teachers who teach U of M courses. In turn, they build academic momentum for diverse and curious students through a U of M course experience.
Faculty coordinators:
- Select and prepare new CIS instructors to teach the U of M course
- Develop and lead CIS instructors in required ongoing professional education in the discipline.
- Ensure equitable U of M teaching and learning experiences for CIS instructors and CIS students through site visits and ongoing support
- Serve as a liaison between the U of M department and the CIS team.
You can learn more about the Faculty coordinator role in the CIS Faculty Coordinator Handbook, which also includes a job description.
The Benefits of CIS
The research is clear. Dual enrollment, including opportunities offered by concurrent enrollment programs like CIS, “improves academic outcomes for students, including completing high school, enrolling in college, and completing college degrees.”
Additionally, dual enrollment “has great potential to help make the high-school-to-college transition more effective and equitable—and to do so on a large scale.” (Policy Fact Sheet, Teachers College, Columbia University)
“College in the Schools is a great recruiting tool; it shows students just what an amazing University we have and what great teachers we have. It’s clear that a good number of CIS students matriculate to the U of M for college," says Timothy R. Johnson, a longtime CIS Faculty Coordinator and Horace T. Morse Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Law.
"CIS has also made me think much more clearly about curriculum development and pedagogical tools to help students learn best," he adds.
Departments
Partnership makes CIS possible! CIS partners with the following U of M colleges, departments, and faculty, to help deliver these U of M courses to more than 8,000 high school students each year.
College of Biological Sciences
Biology Teaching and Learning
- BIOL 1015 – Human Physiology, Technology, and Medical Devices | Murray Jensen
College of Design
Graphic Design, Apparel Design, Retail Merchandising, and Product Design
- DES 1111 – Creative Problem Solving | Brad Hokanson
College of Education and Human Development
Curriculum and Instruction
- CI 1563 – Physics by Inquiry | Bhaskar Upadhyay
- CI 1806 – College Algebra through Modeling | Sue Staats
- CI 3901 & CI 3902 – Exploring the Teaching Profession I & II | Jehanne Beaton Zirps
Educational Psychology
- EPSY 3264 – Introduction to Basic and Applied Statistics | Andrew Zieffler
Family Social Sciences
- FSOS 1211 – An Interdisciplinary Look at the Family in Multicultural America | Margaret Delehanty Kelly
College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences
Animal Science
- ANSC 1101 – Introductory Animal Science | Kyle Rozeboom and Tony Seykora
Applied Economics
- APEC 1101 & 1102 – Principles of Microeconomics & Principles of Macroeconomics | Julie Bunn and Kristine Lamm West
College of Liberal Arts
African American Studies
- AFRO 1011 – Introduction to African American Studies | Rose Brewer
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
- CHN 1011–3022 – Beginning, Intermediate, and Accelerated Modern Chinese | Yao Tu
- JPN 1011 & 1012 – Beginning Japanese | Fumiko Matsumoto
Classical and Near Eastern Religions and Cultures
- LAT 3003 & 3004 – Intermediate Latin Prose and Poetry and GRK 1001 & 1002: Beginning Classical Greek | Charles McNamara
Communication Studies
- COMM 1101 – Introduction to Public Speaking | Diane Odash
English
- ENGL 1001W – Introduction to Literature: Poetry, Drama, Narrative | Katherine Scheil
French and Italian
- FREN 1003 & 1004 – Intermediate French | Lydia Belatèche
German, Nordic, Slavic, and Dutch
- GER 1003 & 1004 – Intermediate German | Helena Ruf and Ginny Steinhagen
History
- HIST 1307 – Authority and Rebellion: American History to 1865 and HIST 1308: Global America: US History since 1865 | Katharine Gerbner
Political Science
- POL 1001 – American Democracy in a Changing World | Timothy Johnson
Psychology
- PSY 1001 – Introduction to Psychology | Charles (Randy) Fletcher
Spanish and Portuguese
- SPAN 1003 & 1004 – Intermediate Spanish | Liz Lake
Writing Studies
- WRIT 1201 – Writing Studio | Marcy Bock Eastley
- WRIT 1301 – University Writing | Vanessa Ramos, Sarah Selz, and Molly Vasich
College of Science and Engineering
Electrical Engineering
- EE 1301 – Introduction to Computing Sciences | David Orser
- EE 1701 & EE 1703 – Climate Crisis: Implementing Solutions | Bill Robbins
Mathematics
- MATH 1371 – CSE Calculus I | Jon Rogness
Physics and Astronomy
- PHYS 1101W – Introductory College Physics I | Jon Anderson
