The process of design thinking can be a a guide for adapting how we work, collaborate, and pursue new strategies at institutions.

Applying design concepts for the cultivation of cross-university partnerships


Purposeful collaborations across university disciplines have contributed to new and innovative partnerships

Discussions of the redesign and reinvention of higher education are abundant. Inspired by the challenges of this past year, leaders across higher education seem preoccupied with two sets of issues: 1. In the short term, how do we address the immediate issues posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the public health crisis on our core programs and services? 2. In the long term, how do we rethink the work of our institutions to ensure the viability and relevance of our institutions and promote the common good?

Both sets of issues, the short-term and long-term exigencies posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other related challenges, require interdisciplinary collaborations, creative approaches to problem solving, and a collective willingness to embrace change.

Representing distinct parts of our institution—academic innovation and experiential learning, leadership education and development, and the university library—we approach this subject from three distinct vantage points. Despite our different administrative portfolios and scholarly and professional interests, we collectively view this moment as one of profound opportunity for our institution and for higher education more broadly. Purposeful collaborations across each of our areas have contributed to new and innovative partnerships that we look forward to building upon, including The Hatchery, a dedicated design thinking and ideation studio centrally located in the Archibald S. Alexander Library, a new learning community for interested members of the New Brunswick Libraries, and varying points of convergence with the Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA) that integrates design and entrepreneurial thinking and leadership development into the Rutgers student experience.

We recognize the uncertainty of the present moment, and we acknowledge firsthand the challenges involved with pursuing new, innovative, and interdisciplinary programs, initiatives, and practices during a period of budgetary challenges, workforce reductions, and an endless stream of institutional and environmental unknowns.

However, as described in this essay, COVID-19 and the related challenges of the moment serve as both a constraint and a catalyst for change, and some of the principles associated with design thinking and leadership may prove instructive in helping us navigate this uncertain terrain. 

It is not uncommon to view change, redesign, and new ways of approaching our work in the academy as existential threats. Through this lens, reinventing higher education may be seen as a disruption to the status quo, requiring a widespread and immediate overhaul of our traditions, customs, preferred practices, and standard operating procedures (Ruben, De Lisi, & Gigliotti, 2021). From this perspective, some of the fundamental reasons for working in higher education and the ways in which our work is typically done are called into question and potentially at risk. 

As we reflect on our individual areas and the national commentary regarding the future of higher education, however, we tend to view these efforts for redesign and reinvention as strategic opportunities for transformation. Rather than threatening what we do and why we do it, we can view this moment as one of deep reflection and critical introspection, as a reminder of what led us to pursue this work in the first place. Rather than revamping all that we do across the academy or dismantling existing structures and practices in pursuit of new opportunities, we can treat this moment as an opportunity for challenging basic assumptions and shaping the perceptions of our work in higher education. And rather than leaning exclusively on past precedent as a script for how to move forward, perhaps we can use our institutional histories and traditions as an anchor upon which to build, leaning forward in a way that approaches creativity and innovation from a posture of hope and promise. 

In these extraordinary times, we might lean on the process of design thinking (Kelley & Kelley, 2013; Stanford d.school, n.d.) as a guide for adapting how we work, collaborate, and pursue new strategies to advance the work of our institutions. 

The first two concepts in the design thinking process include empathize and define. By adopting a user-centered perspective, we are invited to consider the ways in which the users and beneficiaries of our organizations experience higher education and to define the problem. In his widely viewed Ted Talk, Doug Dietz (2012), an industrial designer from GE Healthcare, discussed the first time he witnessed a young girl approaching a diagnostic scanner he designed. Viewing the situation through the eyes of the young girl, he described “that machine I had designed basically looked like a brick with a hole in it.” Inspired by design thinking concepts, Dietz transformed the design of the machine into a Pirate Adventure, including images of sandcastles, a disco ball, a yellow submarine, and the sound of harps (Kelley & Kelley, 2013). This example offers a reminder that although core components of the system may not be easily changed, we can influence the design of other dimensions of the product, service, or experience in ways that can elevate and improve the user experience. 

Ideate, the next step in the design process, highlights the importance of expansive brainstorming and asking good questions that can best address problems of significance. We might consider asking questions of our students in helping them to reimagine how they approach their college experience. Or engage in thoughtful conversations with faculty and staff from across our institution to explore unique avenues for collaboration and interdisciplinary endeavors. Additionally, we may peer beyond the walls of our institution to learn from partners in industry, government, or the local community of ways to leverage existing relationships and forge new partnerships. As we explore ways of reinventing some of what we do in higher education in response to the current challenges, creative possibilities may emerge from purposeful ideation and brainstorming with internal and external stakeholders. 

Lastly, the design thinking process emphasizes the need to prototype and test one’s ideas. The traditions and structures of higher education can often stifle change and experimentation, but this period of disruption may very well create a window of opportunity for new ways of operating. As we have found useful in the design of some of our new initiatives and partnerships, there is tremendous value in soliciting feedback from past and future collaborators, engaging in smaller pilot tests to assess the value and relevance of innovative ideas, and reaching across the aisle to develop practices, processes, and initiatives that might not yet exist. Such an approach may be countercultural at some institutions, but it seems likely that this approach to testing new programs, initiatives, and partnerships will be even more important as we continue to make our way through an increasingly ambiguous environment.

These concepts – empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test – are widely discussed in the design literature, and we recognize the relevance of such concepts as colleges and universities lean into a post-COVID future in ways that are inventive, collaborative, user-centered, and problem-oriented. Crises, such as the pandemic, present us with unique conditions to adopt a renewed approach our work in higher education (Gigliotti, 2019). We can take pride in the ways in which our institutions responded to the immediate challenges posed by the pandemic, and as we carry these lessons forward, we might lean on the design principles as we pivot, reinvent, and innovate.

References

Dietz, D. (2012). Transforming healthcare for children and their families. [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jajduxPD6H4&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

Gigliotti, R. A. (2019). Crisis leadership in higher education: Theory and practice. Rutgers University Press.

Kelley, T., & Kelley, D. (2013). Creative confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all. Crown Business.

Ruben, B. D., De Lisi, R., & Gigliotti, R. A. (2021). A guide for leaders in higher education: Core concepts, competencies, and tools. (2nd ed.). Stylus Publishing.

Stanford d.school. (n.d.). https://dschool.stanford.edu/

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