PIT-UN Membership

Launched in 2019, the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) is a partnership that unites colleges and universities committed to building the field of public interest technology (PIT). Through the development of curricula, research agendas, and experiential learning programs in the PIT space, these institutions aim to develop graduates with skills and knowledge at the intersection of technology and policy. We invite you to check out our Membership Guide to learn more about how the Network is structured, how members work together, and how can anyone engage the Network.

The membership application window is now open and closes on October 31, 2022.

If you are viewing this page outside of that timeframe, please use the button below to indicate your interest in joining PIT-UN, and someone from our office will contact you.

What Is Public Interest Technology?

PIT-UN member institutions define public interest technology as the study and application of technology expertise to advance the public interest.

Technology expertise refers to a set of capabilities to create, apply, study, and use new technologies and an understanding of the core ethical, legal, policy, and societal dimensions of technological change. As technology becomes more of a governing force through its own design and uptake and its literal use by governments to govern, we need to cultivate a set of experts who can both wield the tools of the relevant technical domains and assess the tools’ social and political implications. We think of this mix as a body of knowledge that enables the development, application, and study of technologies with attention to the social and political possibilities of their design and use, but that also can be applied analytically in the policymaking process.

Second, the definition is specific about the purpose sought by the application of technology expertise. The emphasis is on a notion of public interest or common good, as distinguished from the design of technology or technology policy to advance commercial or individual goals and interests.

The public interest — while difficult to define — is understood to reflect the welfare of society in general, rather than the welfare of a particular individual, group, or company. Government and civil society are seen as playing primary roles in advancing societal objectives, though other sectors often play a role as well. While this definition clearly includes the deployment of new technologies on behalf of public policy priorities, it also creates space for a shared recognition (by the private and public sectors) of the responsibility to critically assess the benefits and risks of the new technologies that are created and used, and to incorporate technical knowledge into the formulation of laws, regulations, and policies. This means that efforts to constrain the “bad” use of technology or to mitigate the harmful impacts of technology are also a part of the field.

PIT Resources

See the latest PIT Resources to help teach courses and advance the field

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Benefits

Discover the benefits of being part of the PIT-UNiverse

PIT Connections

Meet and learn from other faculty members, students and PIT practitioners

PIT Opportunities

Gain access to the yearly Network Challenge and discover job opportunitites

How PIT-UN Is Structured

Learn how PIT-UN is structured to ensure member institutions obtain consistent value and opportunities by being active members.

Universities and colleges can apply for membership every fall through the PIT-UN website. Becoming a member brings many benefits to Network schools, students, and faculties including educational and networking opportunities, information sharing, and guidance for institutions on how to further develop their PIT programs.

Membership Commitments

By joining PIT-UN, universities and colleges commit to field-building on campus and beyond. Members may choose to focus on some or all of these elements, in addition to other initiatives they deem relevant to establishing public interest technology as a field of study and education on campus:

Supporting curriculum development to enable interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary education of students, so they can critically assess the ethical, political, and societal implications of new technologies and design and deploy technologies in service of values and for the public good.
- Supporting transdisciplinary efforts and multidisciplinary teams in our institutions that foster engagement across disciplines to better define and tackle public interest problems.
Developing experiential learning opportunities such as clinics, fellowships, apprenticeships, internships, and other collaborative offerings with public and private sector partners at the intersections of technology and the public interest.
Finding new ways to encourage and support graduates who pursue careers working in public interest technology, recognizing that financial considerations and debt may make professional pursuits in these areas unaffordable to many students.
Creating mechanisms for pre- and post-tenure faculty to participate and receive recognition for the research, curriculum development, teaching, and service work needed to build public interest technology as an arena of inquiry and training
- Examining the impact of current tenure standards on the ability to hire and retain public interest technologies and explore the possibility of creating new faculty structures.
Providing institutional data that will allow us to measure the effectiveness of our interventions in helping to develop the field of public interest technology.
Prioritizing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in PIT activities by
- Centering race, equity, and diversity within PIT programs and projects, leveraging the use of data and human-centered approaches to foster new solutions.
- Deepening your commitment to equity and justice by investing in the capacity of current HBCU and HSI members as well as new MSI members entering our network.
- Engaging and collaborating intentionally with community organizations and local governments as agents of change by offering training and capacity building in public interest technology areas.

See individual member commitments

Membership Benefits

As a part of the Public Interest Technology University Network, member institutions have a unique opportunity to shape the PIT landscape by:

Participating in a learning community of scholars and practitioners seeking to prepare civic-minded technologists and leaders.
Applying for grant funding offered to Network members.
Accessing workshops and seminars to showcase the latest advancements in PIT.
Gaining complimentary registration and attendance by Network leads at the Annual Convening to discuss shared challenges and goals.

Designees

Designees are the key players of PIT-UN. They serve as a single point of contact for a college or university within the Network and are tasked with representing and translating the member institution’s public interest technology goals both on campus and within PIT-UN.

Designees are also tasked with participating in the field-building activities and projects to further the PIT space.

Designees are identified and deputized by the university’s president, provost, or senior leadership, and must have the capacity and support needed to pursue their institution’s public interest goals in campus-wide activities and programming. They should also have the support of two or three faculty, staff and/or administrators with institutional mandate to pursue PIT within their departments and the university, overall.

Designees will be assigned to a Working Group based on their focus area and can select their own Standing Committee assignment.

Responsibilities of the Designees

Designees must serve on one of our Standing Committees and a Working Group. A designee who cannot commit, can appoint another member of the member institution with the proper institutional mandate and decision capacity.
Designees and their teams, and any other participating faculty member, will help to facilitate the formal Annual Convening to discuss programmatic progress, lessons learned, future planning, and strategies for success with Network members. They also need to support their provost and presidents’ attendance at the convening as stated in their membership agreements.
Designees should aid in telling the stories of public interest technology by actively engaging with their institution’s public relations and marketing teams along with PIT-UN communication teams to highlight and celebrate researchers, faculty, and students advancing the field.

Other Designee Activities

Create channels of communication with the key departments in their institution to make sure all are on the same page about the institution’s approach to PIT.
Facilitate and track the identified field-building activities as outlined in the institution’s application to PIT-UN.
Keep PIT-UN abreast of the institution’s progress on field building activities via the quarterly calls, one-on-one meetings with the PIT-UN program manager, and year-end reports.
Aid PIT-UN as it engages the institution’s communications, development, and career services offices to tell successful PIT stories.
Identify fundraising opportunities to support public interest initiatives that cannot be funded through the Network Challenge and report on the career pathways of students and alumni from established and new PIT programs.
Ensure the institution’s submission of at least one application to the Network Challenge after a campus-wide application process.
Contribute to PIT-UN by personally partaking in the Standing Committees and Working Groups or nominate other institutional representatives to contribute to Working Groups.

Grantees

Our grantees are the winners of our Network Challenge, and as such they engage with the Network for the duration of their grants (12 months).

The grantees are introduced as a cohort at our Annual Convening. We require that they complete their grants as specified in their proposals, check in with the PIT-UN team, present at the Annual Convening during their grant year, and deliver their final report. Grantees are also members of the PIT University Network, and are encouraged to take part in all our Events and Communication Channels.

PIT-UN members have commitments not only to their own work within public interest technology, but also to one another and to the expansion of the broader field. Standing Committees are tasked with building governing structures and member responsibilities to take ownership of the Network as it grows. They steer the overall strategy, scope, and direction of the Network, and they are tasked with shaping its rules and procedures, as well as establishing yearly goals to be revisited at each Annual Convening.

Responsibilities of Standing Committee Leads

Each Standing Committee is led by a chair or co-chairs who have the following responsibilities:

Establishing yearly goals for their committee and revisiting them every Annual Convening.
Creating and revising the structure of the Network.
Documenting their meetings, projects, and processes to establish a field-building memory of the field.

Standing Committees meet at least on a Quarterly basis and their meetings. Participation in the Standing Committee is required of all members and they are expected to serve for three years. New members joining each year will be invited to observe a Standing Committee in their first year and then serve as a member for the next two years.

Current Committees

Technology & Policy

The Technology & Policy Standing Committee will inform the network of the critical tech & policy issues that animate the emerging field of Public Interest Technology. We are particularly focused on ensuring that PIT effectively centers race, equity and diversity in its approach to policy at both the state and federal levels.

Governance

The Governance Standing Committee shapes the structure of the network and its commitments by members. The chairs commit to updating and refining network procedures and processes. They also work with New America leadership to facilitate participation of your Presidents and Provosts.

Membership

The Membership Committee seeks out new members based on developed criteria. They identify and shepherd new partnership opportunities with both academic and non-academic organizations.

The Leadership

PIT-UN Working Groups explore key issues in building public interest technology as a field and offer recommendations, tools or strategies, policy or research papers for the PIT-UN to adopt or review. The Working Groups are tasked with piloting innovative ideas that can push the PIT space forward.

The working groups are set by the Governance Standing Committee and are tasked for a period of 12 months, starting on the Annual PIT-UN Convening and concluding on the next convening upon reporting their results. Designees or individuals from PIT-UN institutions can participate, but must commit to at least 12 months.

The Governance Standing Committee can also create Temporary Working Groups that will work on specific tasks that are important for the PIT-UN process. These could include a Convening-focused Working Group or Evaluation Committee Working Groups.

Responsibilities of Working Group Leads

Each working group is led by a chair or co-chairs who have the following tasks:

Determine the scope of work that can be completed and presented by the group at each year’s annual convening;
Present the result of their work at the Annual PIT-UN Convening;
Document their meetings, projects and processes to establish a field building memory of the field.

Working groups meet every other month via conference calls or regional meetings, and their meetings are open for public observation. The meeting time will be posted in the PIT-UN Calendar and anyone can request admission to observe them.

Current Working Groups

Faculty & Institution Building

The Faculty and Institution Building Working Group will establish an engagement strategy between the National Science Foundation and the Network. The aim is to explore funding as well as other engagement activities between the federal and local government and Public Interest Technology projects and initiatives.

Career Pipeline & Placement

The Career Pipeline Working Group will pilot a Public Interest Technology Interinstitutional Summer program across the Network. The program aims to provide an opportunity for students to develop both experiential as well as foundation knowledge in PIT.

The Leadership

Membership Exploratory Experience

PIT-UN is currently developing a curated experience where interested institutions participate in the Network while exploring full membership. We recognize that institutional commitment to Public Interest Technology varies. In 2023, we are creating an explorational pathway of workshops for organizations to develop their understanding of the PIT ecosystem and begin to develop their institutional PIT vision and mission. This process empowers a broad spectrum of institutions to investigate the University Network prior to fully committing to becoming a PIT-UN member. At the end of the explorative pathway, institutions can decide to enter as a PIT-UN member or decide it is just not the right time or right fit for their institutions. Exploration participants can participate in activities within the Network which include members-only workshops and seminars. Exploration participants cannot participate in any of the PIT-UN-specific funding opportunities.

PIT-UN Exploratory Benefits

Participation in a learning community of scholars and practitioners seeking to prepare civic-minded technologists and leaders, and enhancing possibilities to make social connections that can lead to a variety of activities (e.g., external funding efforts, curricular developments) that are in the public interest.
Opportunities to apply for grant funding as a partner with existing Network members. (If the Affiliate member becomes a full member, they will be able at that point to apply for grant funding on their own or with any network member or affiliate.)
Complimentary registration as a liaison at an annual convening to discuss shared challenges and goals.

Member Application

The Public Interest Technology University Network has opened Membership Applications. This year, interested educational institutions can submit their application for Membership or a PIT-UN Exploratory Experience. Below are instructions for creating an account to start the application. Please direct questions regarding the online process or the development of your application to pituninfo@newamerica.org.

The application process is open and closes on October 30, 2022.
Select Create a New Account. This will prompt you to fill out a profile about your institution. Please create only one account per institution.
Once your profile is complete, you are now ready to apply to PIT-UN.
You will have the option to apply for PITUN Membership or Affiliate membership.
You can work on your application, save it, and return to it at any time. The system will auto-save every 10 seconds. You can download a copy of the 2023 PIT-UN Member Application or the 2023 PIT-UN Exploratory Experience Application to prepare your answers in advance.
The deadline for all submissions is October 30, 2022. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions during the submission process.

Membership Criteria

Provost/Presidential Level Support: Senior leadership fully supports public interest technology as a priority area of the institution and the mission and can demonstrate a willingness to indicate how the institution’s mission and goals align with the aims of PIT-UN. Senior leadership within PIT-UN and to publicly support PIT initiatives that take place on the campus/university. The leadership support for members should be on the provosts and presidential level.

Designee and Team Support: Institutions can identify two to three faculty, staff and/or administrators who have been given the mandate to pursue PIT within their departments and across the university or college. The identification of a designee with the capacity to work across departments; a track record of delivering programs/services that align with PIT’s goals; and an ability to access a team of other individuals across the institution who can support PIT and PIT-UN including university communications, student career services, or development.

History of interdisciplinary Education: The institution supports curricular and co-curricular programming and research that connect departments and disciplines across the campus/university/college.
The institution shows a readiness to offer programming that embraces the value of experiential learning so that there is evidence of students being given the capacity to see the real-world applications of their learnings.
The institution has or plans to offer course sequences, such as a major, minor, certificate, or degree which reflects public interest technology across multiple departments or schools on campus.

Exploration Membership Criteria

Leadership support from the university: Institutional leadership supports public interest technology as a priority area and can demonstrate how the institution’s mission and goals align with the aims of PIT-UN. Applicants should present evidence of institutional support of PIT-UN, preferably from more than one academic unit. The leadership support for affiliate members could be department chairs, deans, provosts, or presidents.

Liaison and team support: The institution has identified an affiliate liaison and at least two other individuals (faculty or staff) who will interact with PIT-UN. Applications from a single individual will not be considered as PIT-UN consists of institutional members represented by designees and liaisons. The liaison or their representative should be able to commit to attending the annual convening of PIT-UN.

History of emerging support for interdisciplinary education: The institution supports or shows a readiness to support curricular and co-curricular programming and research that connect departments and disciplines across the campus/university/college.
The institution shows a readiness to offer programming that embraces the value of experiential learning with students being given the capacity to see the real-world applications of their learnings.

Member Benefits

Participating in a learning community of scholars and practitioners seeking to prepare civic-minded technologists and leaders.
Applying for grant funding offered to Network members.
Complimentary registration and attendance by Network liaison at an annual convening to discuss shared challenges and goals.
Exclusive access to toolkits, training and resources that are available for members only.
Accessing workshops and seminars to showcase the latest advancements in PIT.

Affiliate Membership Benefits

Participation in a learning community of scholars and practitioners seeking to prepare civic-minded technologists and leaders.
Opportunities to apply for grant funding as a partner with existing Network members.
Complimentary registration and attendance by affiliate liaison at an annual convening to discuss shared challenges and goals.
Mentorship by existing network members, including assistance with preparing a full application and in getting involved in the network challenge grant opportunities.