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Enhancing Academic Innovation Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration at DePaul University

This outline presents insights from the Innovation Task Force at DePaul University, highlighting the obstacles to innovation and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. It discusses the vital role of tenure-track faculty as sources of energy for the institution and presents key findings that emphasize DePaul's agility in introducing new programs. The proposal for a Collaboratory for Interdisciplinary Research aims to foster collaborative faculty efforts across colleges. Key strategies include relaxing rules, making time and space for collaboration, and addressing structural obstacles to drive innovation in the academic environment.

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Enhancing Academic Innovation Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration at DePaul University

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  1. A Collaboratory to Support Interdisciplinary Projects Robin Burke Greg Scott Mess Hall May 19, 2014

  2. Outline • Innovation task force • Obstacles to innovation • A proposal

  3. Innovation Task Force • Charged with proposing mechanisms for enhancing academic innovation at DePaul • Two main areas • Curriculum • Delivery

  4. The Role of Faculty

  5. Tenure-Track Faculty • Essential, but • Expensive • Long-term investment • Profitability depends on “filling the seats” • Passive • Depreciates over time • Fungible • Consumer of institutional resources

  6. Alternative Metaphor

  7. Tenure-Track Faculty • Essential, but • Expensive • Long-term investment • Source of energy • Fuels the institution

  8. Key findings I • DePaul is relatively nimble • much easier for us to introduce new, high-quality programs • new programs tend to grow both students and revenue • But • the process is unfocused, “hero-driven” • support for new programs is lacking • marketing is a weak spot

  9. Key findings II • Cross-disciplinary collaboration is particularly hard • Many structural disincentives • college-centered metrics • majors, FTEs, etc. • college-centered resource allocation • budget, faculty lines, space, etc.

  10. But the future • is interdisciplinary

  11. Deans’ concept • AVP for Innovation • external • market research: what are the needs? • internal • capabilities: what can we do? • resources • funding to the deans to launch and market programs • Top-down process • administrators are visionaries • faculty are implementers • Not interdisciplinary

  12. An Alternative View • Support faculty collaboration esp. across disciplines • Attack structural obstacles directly • Let innovation arise from creative interchange

  13. CIRSCI • Collaboratory for Interdisciplinary Research, Scholarship and Curricular Innovation • Support faculty (esp. across colleges) to work jointly on research and curriculum projects • Email me rburke@cs.depaul.edu for a copy of the proposal

  14. Four strategies • Relax the rules • make it possible to experiment • Make time • lower the cost of innovation • Make space • need to be together to work together • Don’t break what’s working • federate existing interdisciplinary centers

  15. Fiscal Reality • Difficult to get resources in the current climate • But innovation doesn’t come for free

  16. Signs of progress • Faculty Council Resolution on Collaboration • Approved by Faculty Council March 5 • Approved by the Provost March 24 • Main points • QIC / URC set-asides for cross-college projects • University-wide programs (Liberal studies, Honors and Study Abroad) should support collaborative courses • Faculty Council will work the Academic Affairs: • a number of potential initiatives including: • “exploring ways to create free-standing units at the university level (rather than in a particular college) to house collaborative work”

  17. Discussion • Let’s talk about collaboration • what do we need? • how do we get there?

  18. Resolution • Approved by Faculty Council March 5 • Endorsed by the Provost March 24

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