Dive Brief:
- An innovation survey conducted by the Online Learning Consortium shows that 90% of responding campus officials said that innovation is a part of their institutions' documented approaches to growth, but only 40% of have budgets reserved for innovation development.
- According to the report, 80% of respondents said that infrastructure challenges are major obstacles to developing innovation, including standards and practices, organizational structures and decentralization of campus operations.
- Qualitative takeaways from the survey included that innovation starts with leadership and the ability for administrators to have clear descriptions and expectations for innovation. Additionally, being able to communicate the need for innovation and receiving feedback from stakeholders were listed as important elements for successful innovation deployment.
Dive Insight:
Communication is a concept that is frequently referenced in conversations about innovation, both in the academic enterprise and in the infrastructure of campus business operation. But innovation should also include transparency about how innovation fits within campus culture.
If leaders hope to redesign classroom instruction on-site and online, they should explain how existing culture is benefited as a result, because when faculty members struggle with new standards or technological implementation, the key to earning buy-in is usually in making connections to how it connects with the spirit and identity of an institution.
Examples of this include Carnegie Mellon's partnership with a regional airport and Maui College's 'net-zero' campus energy initiative, both of which underscore the institutions' mission and their efforts to make communities better.