The Innovation Fund of Montgomery College

1. The Innovation Fund of Montgomery College March 5, 2012

2. Presentation Agenda • Introduction to Montgomery College (Md.) • Past Innovation Processes • New Innovation Fund • Differences from the Past • Outcomes of the New Innovation Fund Process • Positive Takeaways

3. Montgomery College (Md.) • Established in 1946 from beginnings as The Bliss Electrical School • 60,000 students from 170 countries; Largest college in Md. for undergraduate ed. • Located in Montgomery County, MD; 13th wealthiest county in the country • 130 academic programs on three campuses and in workforce development centers • Roughly 2,735 faculty, staff and administrators • Montgomery College Foundation raises $3M+ in annually

4. Past Innovation Processes • Prior to 2010, College had “Make It Happen! Grants” • Funding source started as unrestricted funds from Montgomery College Foundation and later as a split of public and private funding • Unilateral decision-making by central administration office • No official reporting back on impact of funds, sustainability • Unrestricted funds from Foundation dried up

5. Past Innovation Processes Positives • Was a source of alternate funding for faculty and staff professional development • Supported a variety of College areas Negatives • Decision-making process limited to one area • No engagement of donors • No sustainability

6. The Innovation Fund Founded by Montgomery College President, Dr. DeRionne Pollard, in 2010: “The Innovation Fund is about creating sustainable, systemic, intentional organizational improvements at Montgomery College. Just like a good Fortune 500 company, each project should include creating a cycle of discovery, testing, and scaling up, because a good idea should not just live with one person, one department, or even one campus. If these innovative ideas can make a difference in the lives of our students, enhance their education, and improve services, the Innovation Fund can help.”

7. Innovation Fund Details • $25,000 Available – All funded by donors such as the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Webber Family Foundation and individuals • Applications Required - requires applicants show sustainability, impact on students, cost effectiveness, innovation to improving the educational experience and/or curriculum. • All-Inclusive – The Fund supports new and creative initiatives of Montgomery College faculty, staff, students, and administrators that enhance the education of Montgomery College students. • Please visit the MC Foundation page at the link below: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/foundation/

8. Innovation Fund Decisionmaking • The Foundation receives all applications by March 9 deadline; The inaugural cycle received 32 proposals totaling $185,000+. • The applications are shared with Presidents Executive Council (PEC); SVPs, VPs and Directors from academic and administrative units • PEC is given a matrix for scoring the applications on sustainability, cost effectiveness, innovativeness, and student impact • President requires PEC to bring funding solutions beyond the $25K to the table in event that there are several worthy proposals • PEC discusses the applications and their scoring; recommends applications within predetermined dollar figure to be funded

9. Innovation Fund Decision Outcome • 14 outstanding projects; 3 VP/Ps and Exec. Dir. of the Foundation stepped forward with additional funding. • PEC awarded $25K to five recipients through the Innovation Fund; awarded four recipients through operating funds ($7,400); and awarded five recipients from dedicated Foundation funds ($23K) • The majority of the 18 rejected proposals focused on ESH (Equivalent Student Hours) for faculty to work on the projects

10. Innovation Fund Recipients Christina Devlin expanded the mission of Writing in the Disciplines to include reading, studying and thinking skills to support student retention. Gus Griffin addressed retention of black males with “Boys to Men”, a mentoring initiative to foster more academic success and responsibility. Dr. Kristine Lui created the New Studio Format for instruction of introductory physics to give students a holistic understanding of key ideas. Marie Martin-Murphy launched the Advancer Pilot to expand early intervention methods. By using the Advancer, students with weaker skills are identified and targeted for improvement. Dr. Esther Schwartz-McKenzie created an online resource guide for student veterans and educators, including a 20-minute educational film.

11. Operating Fund Recipients Jennifer Capparella purchased slides for use by microbiology students and faculty to enhance microscope skills and understanding of bacterial organisms. Jason Fuller implemented a student response system (clickers) to enhance student involvement in discussions and formative mini-quizzes, supporting student performance. Janis Gallagher added a research component to the human anatomy and physiology course to benefit students preparing for health-related careers. Dr. Virginia Lee Miller focused on the redesign of Chemistry 101 for improved student outcomes.

12. Foundation Fund Recipients Dr. Mike Chase and Dr. Tony del Castillo-Olivares designed a new course about multidisciplinary scientific research to prepare students for transfer. Dr. Francine Jamin developed a Jefferson Cafe series which addresses concerns important to students and directs them to consider issues of communal significance. Dr. Beatrice Lauman for the "Calculus Project" that provides mathematical enrichment for pre-calculus and calculus students. Dr. Michael Mills implemented interactive problem-based learning activities for Diagnostic Medical Sonography students. Dr. Aubrey Smith created a podcasts to address the need for online technical educational videos that are convenient and accessible to students.

13. Innovation Fund Differences • Student Engagement: First time that students are actively engaged as co-applicants with faculty and staff; • More Collaborative Decision-making: Great opportunity for PEC to come together and solve problems together on funding that led to more support across the disciplines and campuses; • Accountability: Applicants had to show sustainability and critically think through the impact on students; • Better Outcomes: Proposals were more innovative, creative, student centered and a formal reporting process on progress; and • Donor Engagement: Donors loved the program; Invited to re-submit proposals to two foundations

14. Innovation Fund: What Would We Do Differently • Greater Clarity about Usage of Funds: Many proposals were rejected based on ESH requests; Made usages clear to individuals upfront in 2012 cycle. Possible reconsideration of ESH issue in 2012-13. • Encourage More Student Involvement: Students need the experience of writing the proposal more. This is being stressed with the potential applicants for FY’12 • More Reminders for applications: College used new email blast and Inside MC Online mechanisms to provide greater marketing to individuals • Request Progress Reports Earlier: Donors were asking for progress reports earlier so they could consider new requests

15. Contact Info David Sears Executive Director, MC Foundation Montgomery College 900 Hungerford Dr. Ste. 200 Rockville, MD 20850 Phone: 240-567-7492 Email: david.sears@montgomerycollege.edu