Improving the campus experience at the University of Toronto through student-led design
By Julia Smeed, Innovation Hub Project Leader
It’s hard to believe that in a few months the Innovation Hub will be approaching it’s two year anniversary since our launch event in May, 2016. So much has happened in the past two years that I felt this would be a good time to reflect on this important work and what it’s meant to me and so many of the students, staff, faculty, alumni and other members of our community that have been involved.
Guest Post By Albert Huynh, Engineering Leadership Education Specialist at ILead (Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering)
Over the past few years, I’ve felt the need for us as a society to step up to bigger challenges (e.g. waste, energy usage, access to education, etc.). Having studied engineering myself, at first, I thought that the answer lay purely in improving our technical problem solving skills. However, the more I’ve learned, the more I’m convinced that solutions in the absence of self-aware leadership and deep humanity are destined to fall flat. With that in mind, I’ve tried to figure out how to bridge the technical knowledge of engineering with the human capacity needed to create positive change, particularly, not simply using one as an add-on to the other, but looking for ways in which the two amplify each other. This exploration has led me to direct, manage, and facilitate the ILead (Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering) social innovation program, The Game.
By Heather Kelly, Senior Director at Student Success in the Division of Student Life at University of Toronto (St.George)
As the first year of the Innovation Hub wraps up, I have the opportunity to reflect on what worked and what we’ve learned along the way.
The Innovation Hub was inspired by a conference “Leading Innovation and Change in Student Affairs”, that David Newman and I attended in 2015. We were energized by the AVP from Seattle University, Michele Murray, who spoke about the need to bring together a more diverse crew of creative minds from across campus and put them to work on improving the student experience.
Guest Post by: Jonathan Kates, Master of Public Policy Student
As a graduate student at UofT’s School of Public Policy & Governance and an executive member of the student-led Policy and Innovation Initiative, the Innovation Hub’s human-centered design focus overlaps with my own interest in innovative policy design. The way policy is designed at the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government offers opportunities for or constraints to innovation. This is largely due to the fact that unlike businesses in the private sector who dream up a brilliant new product, governments rarely enjoy a first-mover advantage. That is, one of the main ways of selling policies to the public is by talking about a successful application of this policy somewhere else. “It worked well in the U.K.!”; “If Montreal can do it, so can Toronto!” The thing about policy is that it can be context-specific, so sometimes what worked in the United Kingdom or Quebec may not be what’s right for Canada or Ontario. But does that mean we shouldn’t at least try and find out?
By Jacqueline Beaulieu, Integrated Learning Experience Student Co-Leader
As a full-time PhD student in the Higher Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, I study decision-making processes in student affairs and services and implications for shared governance in higher education. As the student leader for the Innovation Hub’s Integrated Learning Team, I thought it would be appropriate to contribute a blog post that integrates my own learning as a result of participating in the Innovation Hub with that from my thesis-related work.
by Cristina Peter, Whole Student Development co-lead
Two of my favourite innovation stories come from industries that seem very different to our educational context, but can inspire some creative thinking on some of those shared values that we strive for: it’s all about good service and a great experience.
By Elvis Ibrahimovic, Fostering Connectedness Team Member
There is nothing more exciting than talking with students! Almost as exciting, was spending a morning speaking with colleagues, students, and other stakeholders about students! As someone who professionally identifies as ‘student-centred’, it was a thrill to focus in on a student (persona) during our Share back sessions. Personas are based on and represent real people, however all identifying information such as their real name and program of study are sanitized to protect their identity.
By Keita Demming, Executive Director of The Agency, UofT Alum, Social Entrepreneur & Innovation Hub Ambassador
Usain Bolt is the fastest man on earth, and as he ages he will inevitably lose that status. The opposite can be true for the University of Toronto. As time passes, it is easier for the University to maintain its position as one of the leading universities in the world. We have the resources, experience and expertise. Unfortunately, it is also just as easy to become complacent.
How does the University ensure that in 100 years, it will still be one of the leading universities in the world?
By Denise Bentum, Organizational Learning Team Coordinator
By now you likely know that the Innovation Hub is talking to students in order to learn about their experiences at U of T. But did you know that we are also talking with staff and faculty to learn about their experiences working with students? This lesser-known aspect of the Innovation Hub is the work of the Organizational Learning team. Organizational learning refers to how knowledge is created, shared and preserved within an organization. We are trying to learn about how staff and faculty collaborate in order to share knowledge across divisions and how they collaborate in order to assist students.
What is Design Thinking?
By Alex
andra Rodney, Student Innovation Leader, Operations Team
In September I introduced you to the Innovation Hub project and explained how we are working on developing innovative solutions to improve the student experience at the University of Toronto. In this post I’ll describe the method we are using to innovate. At the Innovation Hub we are using a “design thinking” approach. This approach has its roots at IDEO, David Kelley’s global design firm, where techniques used to design products were applied to the design of organizational operations and services. You may not have heard of IDEO but you’ve likely been in contact with their design innovations. Among other things that IDEO has patents on are the Apple mouse, laptop computer hinges, and the stand-up toothpaste bottle.
