Improving the campus experience at the University of Toronto through student-led design
At the Innovation Hub, we are what we do. We commit ourselves to community growth through prototyping and iteration, not only in the design projects we take on, but also in designing our own work processes. By being responsive to the changing needs of the community—both internally, within our own team, and externally, with our project partners—we continually improve our practices.
By James Conlin, Crescent Leadership Student
This past fall, I participated in Crescent School’s Grade 11 Leadership course and I had the chance to work with University of Toronto’s Innovation Hub. The course tasked students with applying design thinking processes to solve a problem for a community partner. Of all the potential community partners, the Innovation Hub spoke to me the most, as I am a strong advocate in improving the lives of students. Luckily, I was gifted my first choice, along with three other students.
By Mia Sanders, Training Facilitator
Hello! My name is Mia Sanders and I’m a training facilitator for the Innovation Hub this year, along with my co-facilitator, Margaryta Ignatenko. Both Margaryta and I have been with the Hub for almost two years, during which we’ve had the privilege of engaging with hundreds of students and staff who are invested in improving the student experience at UofT. From our vantage point, what sets the Innovation Hub apart is the array of methodologies that team members are exposed to throughout their time here, including Design Thinking, Ethnography, Integrative Thinking, and Anti-Oppressive Practices.
By Paul Giurgeu and Chanz Valmonte, Communications Team
Entering into my first year of university, I knew I wanted to make the most of my experience. I was determined to figure out a way to balance my studies with extracurricular activities (as well as sleep, and social life, and sanity). At least, I would try my best! That’s when I found out about the Innovation Hub, a student-led initiative launched to improve student experience through research. The I-Hub would allow me to get involved on campus, cater to my personal interests, and positively impact a diverse group of people—no matter the size! For these reasons, I jumped right in! I completed the application (there’s CCR-credit, so win-win!). Now I’m here, writing a piece about my experience at September’s weekend-long training.
By Charis Lam, Chemistry PhD Student & Past Innovation Hub Storytelling Team Member
Interviewer, interview thyself.
At the Innovation Hub, students and staff use empathy-based interviewing to capture a snapshot of the university experience through the eyes of students. Their subjects are varied: international students, commuters, students with accessibility needs, TAs, and others.
Missing from the picture are the photographers themselves—the students capturing these stories.
What has the Innovation Hub meant to the team itself? How has it changed the university experiences of its students and volunteers?
To find answers, I pivoted the lens.
By Danielle Lum, Project Assistant & Liza Brechbill, Integrative and Design Thinking Specialist
In late June, the Innovation Hub partnered with U of T’s Trademark and Licensing office and external consultants from Sovereign State to facilitate a student feedback session. The topic of the day? Exploring the thoughts, feelings, and stories that students associate with their time at the university, with the goal of better understanding the student experience and informing the development of school branding.
By Michael Clark, Manager, UX at EASI and Innovation Hub Big Ideas Team Member – Student-Faculty Exploration Cafe
I initially heard about the Innovation Hub during a conversation with Julia Smeed. Through our conversation, I learned that the purpose of the Innovation Hub was to bring students, staff and faculty together in an effort to improve the “U of T Experience”. And, that’s where my involvement came in.
By Monique Gill, Innovation Hub Big Ideas Team Member – Neighbourhood Communities
Diversity is a quality that is celebrated widely across the University of Toronto campuses. Our Neighbourhood Communities team is looking at ways in which we can harness the diversification of our student population, and more specifically student neighbourhoods, to better cultivate student connection and U of T spirit. By collecting data on our student’s geographical areas, we are looking at the feasibility developing a platform that would allow U of T students to meet up in their very own neighbourhoods to facilitate student self-organization like social events, study groups, and ride sharing.
By Kevin Mak, Innovation Hub Big Ideas Team Member & Curriculum and Governance Assistant, Faculty of Arts & Science
What does the term “future readiness” mean to you? For one, it may be as simple as having strong technical competencies or a well-thought-out game plan to ace that interview or score that job with that sought-after employer. For another, it may be as complex as having the courage, resilience, and belief that they will succeed in everything that they do, knowing that when doors are shut on them others will open, notwithstanding their own disabilities and the world’s uncertainties. In an attempt to unpack this concept of “future readiness”, the Innovation Hub set up our team: the Future Readiness Team.
By Chelsea Kowalski, Innovation Hub Big Ideas Team Member & 4th Year English Student
Over the course of an undergraduate degree, the average student will spend four years here. I’m along that track right now. Four years of needs and wants, questions and curiosities, tricks and campus hacks. But I- like every student- have come to discover that four years is not enough to learn it all. There is always another resource, another group, another organization I never knew existed before that might have been helpful. This is where the UofT Concierge idea could make a difference.