Universities look to innovate

IOWA CITY - A traditional view of college involves classrooms, books, lectures and labs. But the world is changing, and so is higher education.

At the University of Iowa, for example, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has launched a new major track titled 'Engaged Social Innovation.” It's pitched as a major for 'doers,” and it's all about getting students to think beyond the classroom - to translate the knowledge they acquire into real change or a material product.

English majors could write a book and pitch it to publishers. Environmental science majors could launch a nonprofit. Business or marketing majors could create a website - like the new 30,000 Hands project one group of students recently developed to connect area nonprofits with classrooms across campus.

'Designed to pair with an existing major and extend that major's scope into areas of social concern, the (Engaged Social Innovation) track enables students to apply their learning in real world settings,” according to a description of the major.

create something

The concept behind the major is that students actually create something - like the 30,000 Hands website or an on-campus food pantry.

That's exactly why UI senior Sydney Hofferber of Cedar Rapids and UI junior Shannon Nolan said they signed up. Neither set out to become social innovation majors - or even knew what that was. But they both wanted to make a difference and cultivate change.

'How do I actually get things done?” Hofferber said. 'I started thinking about that.”

She realized her education meant the most to her - and held the most promise for others when it extended beyond the classroom into real-world experience.

'That is kind of where it all started,” Hofferber said of her decision to major in social innovation and to back the 30,000 Hands initiative.

'Trying to make (experience) more a part of the curriculum and what is expected is incredibly important to us,” she said. 'That's where most of its gumption comes from.”

The social innovation major comes with a few requirements - including that students be in the UI Honors Program and have another major.

David Gould, an adviser within the major and an administrator for the UI's Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, said the major is intended to be flexible, interactive and ambitious.

'The notion is that students will evolve and learn, and the major and the courses necessary will evolve and change as well,” he said.

The program's enrollment is small - due to the requirements - with about nine signed up right now. And Honors Program Director Art Spisak said the program could stay that size because of its high bar.

'It's not easy,” he said. 'But the payoff is incredible, because it's their own.”

On the other hand, Spisak said, this type of education could be the way of the future - and he's glad to be at the forefront.

'Students are taking a bigger role in how they are being educated,” he said.

isu innovation

Iowa State University also is mapping a path toward innovation beyond the classroom with its new Student Innovation Center.

The Board of Regents in December approved a schematic design for the $84 million facility geared toward providing a 'highly flexible, dynamic space that encourages experimentation and interdisciplinary investigation.”

With space for prototyping, fabrication and benchtop-type projects, the building will feature a new style of classroom with access to technologically advanced equipment and materials that can involve, for example, computer-aided design and virtual reality.