WPI From Visibility to Institutionalization: Integrating a PIT Event Series through JUST-T Collab

Continuing the work from our previous PIT-UN project 'Supporting and Showcasing PIT: Building Community through Signature Projects', the current project has built a strong culture of public interest technology at WPI. The project had four main legs: (1) establishing JustT Collab (Just Technology Collaborative) as a space of interaction and collaboration for WPI faculty, (2) connecting PIT to 'green technologies' (a highly visible area of research, teaching, and learning at WPI), (3) weaving PIT connections among departments, programs, and centers at WPI, and (4) strengthening the PIT partnership between WPI and Quinsigamond Community College (QCC). 1) JustT Collab (Just Technology Collaborative): We created a website for the Collaborative (https://justt.wpi.edu) and used 'Just-T Collab' in all our public-facing PIT activities. This year's project participants were all named as Just-T Collab fellows. While we are connected to all schools and departments, the Global School and the Department of Integrative and Global Studies have expressed special interest in JustT Collab. This kind of collective recognition across a school and a department have boosted JustT Collab's visibility. Indeed, JustT Collab has become a familiar name for WPI faculty and staff who are interested in public interest technology. As JustT Collab is now recognized as a unique space for collective experimentation in research, teaching, and learning, we expect that it will carry the PIT flag at WPI in coming years. 2) 'Green Technologies' as PIT: In our previous PIT-UN project we had a cohort of faculty and staff who led what we called 'PIT signature projects'. The cohort model successfully generated a sense of community and a space of colearning. At the end of the previous project, we had a group of folks who now saw each others as potential collaborators in interdisciplinary PIT projects. Given its proven success, our current project used the same model. Yet, unlike the previous project, the current one focused on thematic collaborations. We have sponsored 7 mini projects on ‘Green Technology: PIT and Environmental Justice". 3) Cross-institutional connections at WPI: For every publicfacing event, we found an academic department or program that was willing to co-sponsor. Instead of building a network in competition with other networks, co-sponsorships have allowed us to connect to already-existing audience bases. In addition, our previous project showed that most faculty members and students need 'interpretive' help in seeing the connection between PIT and the STEM disciplines they are in. Co-sponsorships have presented concrete examples for such connections. 4) WPI-QCC partnership: We have developed a fruitful collaboration with Quinsigamond Community College. Two QCC faculty members and two WPI faculty members collaborated to build PIT modules. These modules were taught in two tech ethics classes--one at QCC and one at WPI (and will be taught in the 2023- 24 academic year as well). In addition, there are three PIT modules that have been developed and will be delivered in Fall 2023 at QCC. QCC and WPI co-sponsored six PIT talks for QCC faculty and students (one was on ChatGPT from a PIT lens).