Free · Fifteen minutes · No student data

The diagnostic assessment

Score Your Five Modes.

Five modes. Each one asks what you have and who delivers before it asks you to score anything, so the questions you get are the ones that apply to you. At the end you get a score for each mode, a readiness index, and where a Diagnostic would start.

This is the diagnostic assessment, and it stays a self-scored one. It is provisional until our Ambassadors — the consultants who deliver the work — conduct the assessment in person on your site. That visit is what confirms or corrects everything you score here.

Step 1 of 9 Your sector

This assessment needs JavaScriptThe scoring runs in your browser, so with scripts disabled it cannot produce a profile. The questions below are still readable, and you can send us the same information directly at stem-hub.net/contact — we will score it and send the profile back.

First, who are you

Which of These Do You Represent?

It changes how we read the same score. The same missing layer costs a dean, an executive director, and a CSR lead three different things.

Higher educationA university, college, or a center inside one. Outreach, recruitment pipeline, regional presence. Community or nonprofitA nonprofit, district partner, library, or community organization running programming for young people. CorporateAn employer funding STEM work for workforce pipeline, community relations, or CSR reporting.

Pick one to continue.

Mode 01

Assets Without a System

Space, tools, and budget exist. The question is whether anything documented connects them to a delivered program.

Context first

What do you have today?

Space and equipmentSpace, no equipment to speak ofEquipment, no dedicated spaceNeither yetBeing built or renovated

Have you delivered programming with it?

Yes, the same program more than onceYes, once or twiceNot yet

Because you have run programming before

A request arrives for a program you have run before. What happens next?

Someone designs it from scratch, again.Last time’s materials get found and adapted, if we can find them.There is a documented plan, and one person knows how to run it.Any trained staff member can pull it off the shelf and deliver it.

Because you have not delivered yet

A request arrives next month for a program you have never run. What happens?

Nobody could take it.Someone would build it from scratch, on top of their existing job.We hold a documented plan we could adapt, from elsewhere in the organization.We could scope it, staff it, and deliver it from a written process.

Because you already have space or equipment

Your space and equipment are used…

Rarely, and nobody tracks how often.In bursts, when someone pushes for it.On a regular schedule, tracked informally.Against a utilization figure we can report.

Because the space is not open yet

Use of the space you are planning is…

Not planned. We will see who turns up.An aspiration in a proposal.A target with a schedule behind it.A target with a named owner and a way to measure it.

If the person who runs programming left tomorrow…

Programming stops.It limps on for a while, then stops.A written process exists. Quality drops while someone learns it.A named backup already runs it, and has.

Standing up programming would depend on…

A person we have not hired.A person doing it on top of another job.A documented process we already hold.A team that already runs this elsewhere in the organization.

Answer the context questions, then the ones they open.

Mode 02

Talent You Cannot Recruit

The role needs a technician, a teacher, and a communicator in the same afternoon. Most postings are priced for one of the three. Who does it for you now changes which questions are worth asking.

Context first

Who delivers your programming today?

Paid staff whose job this isFaculty or staff, on top of another jobVolunteers or studentsA contractor or an outside partnerNobody yet

How many people could run a session without help?

NoneOneTwo to fiveMore than five

The role that delivers your programming is…

Unfilled, or not a role at all.Held by a volunteer, or by someone doing it on top of another job.Filled and paid, but it turns over most years.Filled, paid for the work it actually is, and retained.

Because an outside partner delivers

The people your partner sends are…

Whoever is available that day.A rotating group we do not select.A named team we help select.Named, credentialed, and the same people each time.

Because nobody delivers it yet

If you posted the role tomorrow, you would be posting…

Nothing. There is no budget line for it.A stipend, or a volunteer call.A funded role with a rough description.A funded role with a written standard and a rate we can defend.

Before someone is in front of students, they have…

Been shown around.Shadowed a session or two.Completed a training checklist.Demonstrated competence against a written standard, and been signed off by a named person.

Your partner’s preparation standard is…

Unknown to us.Described to us verbally.Documented and shared with us.Documented, and we verify it before anyone is deployed.

Your plan for preparing whoever delivers is…

It does not exist yet.They will learn by doing.We would write a checklist.We would adopt a written standard and have someone sign off against it.

Pay and progression for this work…

Do not exist. It is goodwill.A stipend or a flat rate, with nowhere to go from there.A rate, with advancement decided informally.A published rate with levels, and advancement on observed evidence.

What you pay the partner buys…

A day, with no visibility into who is paid what.A day, at a rate we cannot compare with anything.A rate we can compare, and we roughly know what reaches the person delivering.A rate with published levels behind it, and we know what the person delivering earns.

Pay for this work is…

Not budgeted.A figure someone guessed at.Benchmarked against comparable roles.Budgeted at a rate with levels, and written down.

Answer the context questions, then the ones they open.

Mode 03

Programming Without an Arc

Activities produce a moment. A progression produces a reason to come back. Whether you have returners at all decides what we can ask.

Context first

Who takes part?

K–12 studentsCollege studentsTeachers or educatorsA mix, including adultsNobody yet

Do the same people come back?

Yes, a set cohort over weeks or monthsSome return, on their own initiativeOne-off, mostly new facesNo programming yet

Because people already return

A participant who returns a fourth time is offered…

The activity they already did.A different activity at the same level.A loose sequence that mostly builds.A defined next step in a progression, and they know what it is.

Because there are no returners yet

If someone wanted to come back, there is…

Nothing to come back to.Another one-off, whenever we run it.A second level we have sketched.A published progression with a defined next step.

After a session ends…

Nothing happens.A thank-you, and they go on a mailing list.An invitation to the next thing we run.A named next step tied to that participant, and somebody owns it.

Your plan for what follows a session is…

There is no plan yet.A thank-you and a mailing list.An invitation to the next thing.A named next step per participant, with an owner.

Could you describe your programming as a pathway rather than a schedule?

No. It is a calendar of events.Roughly, in conversation.Yes, in a document we wrote for a funder.Yes, and a participant can see where they are in it.

Answer the context questions, then the ones they open.

Mode 04

Nothing That Compounds

Effort goes in every cycle. The question is whether anything accumulates — which depends on how many cycles there have been, and who you have to answer to.

Context first

How many full cycles of this programming have you run?

None yetOneTwo or threeFour or more

Who do you have to justify it to?

A funder or grant officerAn executive, dean, or boardBothNobody outside the team

Curriculum and materials from the last cycle are…

Gone, or on a former staff member’s personal drive.Findable, if you ask the right person.In a shared location, in uneven condition.Versioned, owned by a named person, and improved each cycle.

Because there is no last cycle yet

Materials for the program you intend to run…

Do not exist.Would be assembled from whatever we can find.Exist, bought or borrowed, unadapted.Exist, adapted to us, owned by a named person.

Compared with two years ago, delivering the same program takes…

The same effort, or more.Slightly less.Noticeably less.Much less, and we can say exactly why.

Because there is nothing to compare against yet

Whether the next run costs less than the first is…

Not something we have considered.Something we hope for.Something we have designed for.Something we capture deliberately, in writing, as we go.

Your case to a funder next cycle rests on…

Intent, restated.Last cycle’s activity counts.Outcome data we assemble by hand each time.An operation already running, producing its own evidence.

Your case to your executive or board next cycle rests on…

Intent, restated.Last cycle’s activity counts.Outcome data we assemble by hand each time.An operation already running, producing its own evidence.

If someone asked you to justify next cycle, you would have…

Intent, restated.Activity counts.Outcome data, assembled by hand.An operation already producing its own evidence.

Answer the context questions, then the ones they open.

Mode 05

Systems That Do Not Talk

Intake, scheduling, and reporting either connect or they live in one person’s memory.

Context first

What runs intake and scheduling today?

Nothing formal. Email and phoneSpreadsheetsA form or booking toolA CRM, SIS, or LMSSeveral systems that do not talk

Do you hold records for minors?

Yes. Consent, rosters, or bothNo minors involvedNot formalized

Intake, scheduling, and reporting live…

In separate places, reconciled by one person.In two systems that mostly agree.In one system, partly configured.In one configured system anyone trained can use.

Because there is no system yet

Standing up intake and scheduling would mean…

Nobody has scoped it.Somebody would build a form.We know the tool and who would own it.It is configured elsewhere in our organization and we can extend it.

Someone asks for last year’s numbers. It takes…

Days, and the answer is a headcount.A day or two of somebody’s week.About an hour.Minutes, from a report that already exists.

Consent, rosters, and follow-up are…

On paper, in three different places.Digital, but unconnected.Connected for current participants.Connected, retained, and reportable across years.

Because no minors are involved

Registration and follow-up records are…

On paper, in three different places.Digital, but unconnected.Connected for current participants.Connected, retained, and reportable across years.

Answer the context questions, then the ones they open.

Context

What We Need to Sequence It

Scores say what is broken. These say in what order it can be fixed, and what it would cost.

Organization

Your role

Where you are today

Participants in the last 12 months

Aggregate numbers only. Never send us student-level data.

Staff on this work, in FTE

Dedicated space

Distance from Louisville, Kentucky

Deployments within 50 miles are standard. Beyond that, travel and lodging at cost.

Equipment you already own

3D printing Laser cutting Electronics Robotics Hand tools Computers only None yet

Where the money comes from

Operating budget Grant Sponsorship Participant fees Nothing yet

Budget available in the next 12 months

When does this need to be working

Booking lead time is 45 days as standard, 14 at Partner tier.

Does the work involve minors

If yes: a named member of your staff is present throughout, every time. Not waivable at any tier.

What has to be true in twelve months

Organization, your role, and where you are today are needed to sequence anything. The rest can be left blank.

Last step

Who Should We Send the Profile To?

The profile appears on screen as soon as you continue. We keep a copy and read it, because a self-scored profile is the first half of a conversation we would rather have with the real numbers in front of us.

Your name

Work email

Phone

How did you hear about us

What we do and do not keepYour answers, your contact details, and the scores. No student data, ever — aggregate counts only. We will not pass any of it to a third party, and we will not call you unless you ask us to.

A name and a work email, then the profile is yours.

Your profile

Where You Stand Against the Five Modes

0/100

—

01Assets without a system——

02Talent you cannot recruit——

03Programming without an arc——

04Nothing that compounds——

05Systems that do not talk——

1Absent

The capability does not exist. Work happens by individual effort or not at all.

2Improvised

It happens, held together by one person, and it is not written down.

3Documented

There is a written process. Delivery still depends on who is available.

4Operating

Anyone trained can run it, and the organization can report on it.

Two figures per mode, and the expanders below show both being worked out. The score is the mean of the answers that mode asked you. The level is earned only when every one of those answers reaches it, so a single level-1 answer holds the mode at level 1. That is what scoring on observed evidence rather than intent does to a profile, and it is why the score and the level can disagree.

The evidence

What You Answered, and What the Next Level Reads

Open any mode to see the answers behind its score, the context that decided which questions you were asked, and the wording of the level above the one you scored. Nothing here is added to what you told us.

Where a Diagnostic would start

—

Not yet confirmedThe one-to-four scale for the five failure modes, and the readiness index derived from it, are ours and are not yet a settled published standard. This is also self-report. It is the diagnostic assessment until our Ambassadors conduct the assessment in person on your site, which scores the same five modes against evidence and sometimes disagrees with you. That gap is usually the finding.

Before you book anything

We Do Not Think You Need an Engagement.

Your total across the five domains is 16 of 20. At that level they are running, and an engagement would install a system you already have. A call to hear that from us would waste your time, so we are saying it here.

The narrow gap is your lowest domain. If you want help with that one thing, one Ambassador Day covers it. If not, you do not need us.

Email Us What We Would Suggest

A profile is not a prescription. What sequences the work is the Map, and the Map is written after the Diagnostic — half a day virtual, or one Ambassador Day on site.

Book the Intake Call See Rates

This is self-report, and provisional. It is the diagnostic assessment until our team conducts the assessment in person, which scores the same five modes against evidence and sometimes disagrees with you — that gap is usually the finding. What the Diagnostic is

No student data, ever — aggregate counts only. No Ambassador is ever alone with minors: a named member of your staff is present throughout, and that is not waivable at any tier, price, or lead time.

A consultancy for organizations building STEM engagement. We diagnose the problem, install the system, train your people, and hand it over.

Louisville, Kentucky
Deployments within 50 miles as standard; beyond that, travel at cost.