DRAFT
AUGUST 27
#02
ANNUAL REPORT
2014-2015
CONTACT
taylor.tulane.edu
200 Flower Hall
Tulane University
6823 Saint Charles AvenueNew Orleans, LA [email protected]
Printed on Mohawk Options 100% Post-Consumer Waste with soy-based ink.
FSC Certified, Green Seal Certified, Green-e Certified, and manufactured with wind-generated electricity.
Dissolving BoundariesInspiring Collaboration
Exploring Scalable Solutions
DRAFT
AUGUST 27
#02
Academics
Student Programming
Design Thinking
Updates & Enhancements
Scholarship & Engagement
PROGRAMS
DEVELOPMENTS
HIGHLIGHTS
16
4
10
14
5
4
2
CONTENTS
MISSION
The Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking dissolves boundaries and catalyzes members of the Tulane Community to create ethical, sustainable, and scalable solutions to pressing social and environmental challenges. Our university-wide, interdisciplinary initiatives are grounded in the teaching, research, and practice of social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and design thinking.
BACKGROUND
Founded in 2014, Taylor coalesces the Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship
(SISE) minor and co-curricular offerings in social innovation, social entrepreneurship,
and design thinking, providing a platform for transdisciplinary, creative thought and
action in our local and global community.
The center’s design thinking framework establishes a deeply human-centered,
iterative, and experimental approach to addressing social and environmental
challenges that engages experts, non-experts, and the users of proposed solutions.
Drawing on design thinking, Taylor connects scientific research, academic scholarship,
innovative teaching, and lived experiences. Taylor aims to help cultivate mindsets,
discover new learning, and diffuse social innovations in an inquisitive, persistent, and
humble manner that brings value to the world.
1
Institutionalized deeper
community engagement
in social innovation and
design thinking by launching
Tulane Grand Challenges,
supported by Phyllis M. Taylor
HIGHLIGHTS
2009
2010 2011
Cultivated strategic
funding to develop a
university-wide program in
social entrepreneurship
Developed co-curricular programs
with the NewDay Speaker Series
and NewDay Challenge, with
support from Stan and Dana Day
Recognized as a Changemaker
Campus by Ashoka U
Created an innovation-based academic agenda
with the Sacks Endowed Distinguished Chair in
Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship,
supported by Michael J. Sacks
Established a core of social
innovation (SI) programs in
the Tulane Center for Engaged
Learning and Teaching (CELT)
Appointed Dr. Rick Aubry
as Assistant Provost for
Civic Engagement and
Social Entrepreneurship,
leading SE professors,
Encore, and the Water Prize
TAYLOR has grown into a powerful, intertwined strategy that includes a wide range of
2
develop a university-wide program in
social entrepreneurship, we have worked to
integrate diverse pockets of creative, solution-
oriented activities across campus. A variety of
departments and centers have worked together
to ensure that we are realizing Tulane’s vision
to represent the best of the modern research
university, anticipating and meeting national
and societal needs at the dawn of the 21st
century and beyond.
SINCE GAINING STRATEGIC FUNDING to
2013
2014
2015
Secured funding for
The Phyllis M. Taylor Center
for Social Innovation and
Design Thinking
Named Kenneth Schwartz the
Sacks Endowed Distinguished
Chair in Civic Engagement
and Social Entrepreneurship
and Director of the Taylor
Center for Social Innovation
and Design Thinking
Merged CELT-SI with Taylor,
centralizing all curricular
and co-curricular offerings
in social innovation, social
entrepreneurship, and
design thinking within one
university-wide center
Appointed Dr. Anna
Monhartova,
SISE Program Director,
to lead the SISE Minor
Enhanced student social
venture support with the
Alvarez Spark Innovation
Awards, established
by Victor C. Alvarez
Launched interdisciplinary,
university-wide Social innovation
and Social Entrepreneurship
(SISE) undergraduate minor—
one of the first undergraduate
minors in social innovation
and social entrepreneurship
in the United States
2012
academic and research opportunities, student-led activi-ties, and community partnerships.
3
CLASSROOM SEATS
SISE MINORSDECLARED increase
since 13-14
increase since 13-14
were filled by
UNIQUE STUDENTS
PROGRAMS
SISE MINOR
The SISE minor consists of six courses including:
Introduction to SISE; Introduction to Business for SISE;
Design Thinking for Collective Impact; Leadership for
Collective Impact; Senior Elective; and Senior Seminar.
SISE students completed a total of 3,930 service learn-
ing hours in the 2014-2015 school year, partnering with
local non-profit organizations including: Grow Dat Youth
Farm; A’s & Aces; Playworks; Tulane City Center; Backyard
Gardeners Network; St. Margaret’s at Mercy; Propeller: A
Force for Social Innovation; Where Y’at; Foundation for the
Conservation of the Tropical Andes; Audubon Nature Insti-
tute; NOLA Time Bank; Lusher Elementary School; Homer
Plessey Charter School; St. Martin School; and Fund 17.
Previous partners include: Harmony Neighborhood Devel-
opment, LifeCity, Our School at Blair Grocery, The Birthing
Project, and Louisiana Bucket Brigade.
ACADEMICS In Fall 2012, Tulane launched one of the first
undergraduate minors in social innovation and
social entrepreneurship in the United States.
323
130
296
IN
2014-2015
GRADUATING STUDENTS
WITH SISE MINORS
60%
29% 91%
May 2015
18
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STUDENT PROGRAMING
Taylor provides programming for Tulane
students, faculty, and staff as well as for the
community. Student programs consist of for-
credit academic opportunities and co-curricular
organizations, competitions, and fellowships.
IGNITE: COMMUNITY. CREATIVITY. CHANGE.
Ignite is a pre-orientation program that connects first-
year students to people, resources, and opportunities to
help them become agents of change at Tulane, in New
Orleans, and around the world. This past year, student
programming partnered with the Center for Public Service
(CPS) and the Office of Multicultural Affairs (The O) to
offer the first expanded Ignite track to over 50 students.
In 2015, Ignite will serve 60 students and add a new on-
campus partner, the Murphy Institute.
SI SYMPOSIUM
The Social Innovation (SI) Symposium seeks grounded,
collaborative, place-based, action research that tackles
complex problems facing 21st century global communities
such as New Orleans. Now in its second year, the 2015 SI
Symposium featured NewDay Speaker and social impact
scholar Jane Wei Skillern, PhD. The graduate student-led
panels drew over 60 attendees, including students from
Tulane, Loyola, and the University of New Orleans. Leaders
from the local community were also in attendance,
representing diverse organizations such as: TrueSchool
Studio; Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation; The
Southern History Project; St. Martin’s Episcopal School; The
Cookbook Project, and the Chicago Public Education Fund.
SPEAKERS AND EVENTS
In the 2014–15 school year, CELT-SI hosted 8 events
with 6 partner organizations. This year’s list of partners
included: the SISE Minor; the Office of Multicultural Affairs;
the Levy Rosenblum Institute; Propeller: A Force for Social
Innovation; 4.0 Schools; and Tulane’s Graduate Social
Innovation Network, a graduate student organization that
seeks to expand SISE opportunities at the masters and
doctoral levels.
ASHOKA U EXCHANGE
Tulane University’s 30-person delegation at the Ashoka
U Exchange included undergraduate and graduate
students, staff and faculty, community partners, alumni,
trustees, and administrators. Additionally, Tulane
participated in the inaugural Renewal Cohort for Ashoka U
Changemaker Campuses.
Tulane University was selected as the host for the 2016
Ashoka U Exchange. Ashoka U expects 800 faculty,
administrators, staff, students, and practitioners to
convene in New Orleans for the conference. In addition to
providing financial and logistical support, Taylor is working
to highlight values of diversity, health and well-being,
sustainability, and local community engagement at the
2016 Ashoka U Exchange.
CHANGEMAKER INSTITUTE SOCIAL VENTURE INCUBATOR
Since its inception in 2010, Changemaker Institute has
supported 38 student social ventures. In 2014-2015, two
student fellows supported nine teams launching social
ventures or intrapreneurial projects that tackle real social
problems in New Orleans. This year’s cohort consisted
of 75% undergraduate and 25% graduate students and
represented almost every school at Tulane. The cohort
was particularly diverse this year, with 50% identifying
as women and 60% identifying as people of color.
Five ventures in the 2014-2015 cohort received funding to
move their ideas to action. Changemaker Institute alumni
continue to thrive after completing the program.
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FUNDING
NEWDAY CHALLENGE
The NewDay Challenge, established by Dana Leigh Day and Stanley R. Day, Jr., has
awarded $130,000 in seed funding to 14 social ventures since 2010. In 2015, stu-
dent programming awarded $35,000 to five winning ventures. Applications were
submitted from undergraduate and graduate students in business, law, medicine,
science and engineering, public health, and liberal arts.
Cookbook ProjectAlissa Bilfield
Food literacy and health education training
MicroPAD Solutions Jason Ryans and Ashwin Sivakumar
Micro-fluidics-based multi-virus rapid diagnostic tool
New Orleans Girls’ Digital Media CampJocelyn Horner
Digital literacy, storytelling, and enhanced social and emotional health among middle-school girls
Roots of Renewal Brendan Lyman
Reintegration services for the formerly incarcerated through construction work program
Fund17 Haley Burns
Microfinance and personal finance services for informal entrepreneurs
2015 VENTURES AND AWARD WINNERS
CHANGEMAKER ALUMNI UPDATES
ALUMNI UPDATES
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MicroPAD Solutions (CI ‘15) was a finalist in the Rice University and Johns Hopkins University Business Model Competitions and won funding from the Novel Tech Chal-lenge through Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering. Co-founders Jason Ryans and Ashwin Sivakumar are continuing product development of a micro-fluid-ics-based multi-virus rapid diagnostic tool.
Trash to Treasure (CI ’14) collected 25,000 pounds of gently used, unwanted residence hall items at the end of the 2013-2014 academic year, diverting that potential waste from landfills. The items were sold the following August, grossing $12,500 in the first annual sale. Profit was donated to local community organizations and the organization is planning its second sale, to take place in August, 2015.
Fund 17 (CI ’13) continued personal finance seminars and business development services with New Orleans entrepreneurs. Fund 17 has developed partnerships with Lend for America, Hope Credit Union, Operation Hope, Café Reconcile, and dozens of local entrepreneurs. Founder Haley Burns is now working on the non-profit organization full-time.
Humanure Power (CI ’13) was recently renamed Sanitation and Health Right in India (SHRI). SHRI completed its first community block of twenty biogas toilets in July 2014. They attracted over 11,000 users in the first month. In May 2015, the Indian government transferred ownership of additional land to SHRI. The organization has raised over $240,000 since 2012. Co-founder Anoop Jain writes about his work regularly in the Huffington Post.
CHANGEMAKER CATALYST AWARD
The Changemaker Catalyst Award supports experiential learning in social inno-
vation, social entrepreneurship, design thinking, and changemaking. This year,
the program was expanded to allow graduate students to access funding. About
$16,000 was awarded to 13 undergraduate and 4 graduate students.
Derek Dashti Attendance at Venture Well’s Southeast Regional to facilitate a design thinking workshop
Elias GarciaAttendance at the People’s Climate Change March
Lilah Shepard Attendance at the Media that Matters Conference
Simone BallardParticipation in the Grand Canyon Colloquium
Haley BurnsAttendance at Lend for America’s Summit for students working in microfinance in the U.S. and for office rental support
Tano Trachtenberg & Lilith Winkler-SchorAttendance at the Changemaker Summit with students from other Ashoka U Changemaker Campuses
Tano Trachtenberg, Ashwin Sivakumar, & Jessica TranAttendance at StartingBloc Institute, a nationally recognized training program that connects and develops aspiring changemakers
Tait Kellogg Participation in a social networks analysis training through the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research
Anna Hunor Participation in a practicum experience with the Uganda Village Project
Jessica LidellParticipation in a language immersion program in Guatemala
Karissa Chao Attendance at the Alternative Break Citizenship Schools Conference
Gabrielle Bloom Participation in an internship through the Israeli Consulate
Jamie Rosenberg & Alex BourguignonAttendance at the Break Away Conference
Evan WalterParticipation in an internship with PenPal Schools
ALVAREZ SPARK INNOVATION AWARD
The Alvarez Spark Innovation Award, established by Victor C. Alvarez, awards
up to $2,500 to enable students to prototype, test, or move forward specific
components of their venture idea or overcome key obstacles in growth. In 2014-
2015, $17,000 was awarded to 7 different student ventures.
The Cookbook Project, MicroPAD Solutions, New Orleans Girls’ Digital Media
Camp, and Fund 17 received Alvarez Spark Innovation Awards leading up to the
NewDay Challenge.
2015 VENTURES AND AWARD WINNERS
ImpACT Jessica Tran and Rachel Budd
Alvarez: $2,500
College admission and scholarship attainment by fostering ACT success
Birthmark Doulas Dana Keren
Alvarez: $2,500
Establishment of Louisiana’s first Milk Bank for women struggling to produce nourishing milk
Text Books Change Lauren Astrachan and Ryan WinemillerAlvarez: $750
Peer-to-peer sales of used textbooks at Tulane University
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Dr. Laura MurphyThe Carnegie Corporation Of New York Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in International Development and Design Thinking
THIS YEAR Dr. Murphy traveled to rural western Kenya to start developing human-centered design workshops with and for youth and community development agencies. Next year, Dr. Murphy will expand design thinking and social innovation learning opportunities for graduate students and professionals on and off campus. Opportunities will include the Fast 48 human-centered design boot camp and other outreach activities.
Dr. Carol WhelanThe Paul Tudor Jones II Professorship and Cole Fellow in Education and Empathy
THIS YEAR Dr. Whelan was awarded a $40,000 grant to improve the Teacher Preparation Certification Program (TPCP). The grant will enable her to pilot a one-year residency program that, if successful, would be permanently implemented into the TPCP. The funds also supported two visits to Changemaker schools, used for a research project.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROFESSORSHIPS
Donors have endowed a number of professorships in the
fields of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.
These opportunities will allow selected faculty to continue
research and scholarship that contributes to their fields.
This work will eventually be diffused to the general
public through courses, lectures, field projects, new
program development, symposia, and writing. This year’s
professorships were led by Assistant Provost Dr. Rick Aubry.
NITROGEN REDUCTION GRAND CHALLENGE
Tulane’s “grand challenges” catalyze people around the
world to create and scale market-driven solutions to
significant problems affecting Louisiana and the world.
In February 2014, Phyllis M. Taylor partnered with Tulane
University and Dr. Rick Aubry, Assistant Provost for Social
Entrepreneurship and Civic Engagement, to announce a
$1 million prize for the best solution to combat annual
“dead zones” that impact the Gulf of Mexico. Hypoxia
threatens marine life, fishing community livelihoods, and
the vitality of many of the world’s lakes and oceans.
Convened by the White House Office of Science
and Technology, and led by Dr. Aubry, Tulane’s team
organized problem-solving meetings in Washington,
where participants identified how the reduction of excess
nitrogen could address hypoxia. Through partnerships
with leading experts on hypoxia and nutrient science—
and numerous other partners—the Grand Challenges then
developed the strategy for the Tulane University Nitrogen
Reduction Challenge.
After a public “open call,” the Grand Challenges team
received 100 thoughtful responses from parties interested
in participating in the competition. The prize competition
was launched in June 2015 and will span two more phases
in 2015-2016 before reaching completion in 2017.
Tulane is also soliciting resources at the local, state, and
federal level to cultivate ancillary or satellite prizes that will
support the main goal of the challenge. These prizes can
have a social focus, such as addressing behavior change,
or they can have a regional focus, such as discerning
how to capture nitrates as they near the mouth of the
Mississippi.
SCHOLARSHIP & ENGAGEMENT
Building on strengths in civic engagement and service
learning, Taylor is proud to introduce scholarship and
engagement opportunities that will inform social innovation
& social entrepreneurship programming and initiatives at
Tulane for generations to come.
1ST COHORT began in 2011
2ND COHORT began in 2012
3RD COHORT began in 2014
8
Dr. Elizabeth Townsend GardThe Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in Law and Innovation
THIS YEAR Dr. Townsend Gard launched an academic lean start up, Law/Culture/Innovation (LCI). LCI is an interdisciplinary legal and cultural support space for various stage projects. LCI bridges silos by connecting individuals inside and outside of the university who would otherwise be unaware of each other.
Dr. Jordan KarubianThe Kylene and Brad Beers Professorship I & Cole Fellow in Tropical Conservation and Engaged Natural Science Scholarship
THIS YEAR Dr. Karubian deepened his community-based con-servation efforts and focused on understanding and protecting isolated patches of forest in Ecuador called “fragments.” He orga-nized local residents, university students, and professors, provid-ing them with funding for assessing diversity of flora and fauna. The information will be used to focus future conservation efforts.
Barbara Hayley, MFAThe Kylene & Brad Beers Professorship & Cole Fellow in Dance and Commu-nity Engagement through the Arts
THIS YEAR Prof. Hayley continued her work with Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute 2015 (UBW SLI), now in its 7th year. The UBW SLI is a 10-day event based in New Orleans that convenes dance and performance professionals interested in using performance as a tool for social change. The outcomes and processes of SLI were used in her SISE 2010 classes.
Dr. Lars GilbertsonThe NewDay Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in Biomedical Engineering and Design Thinking
THIS YEAR Dr. Gilbertson was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to establish and direct the Tulane Innovation-Corps Site for a Resurgent New Orleans. The Tulane I-Corps Site will expand economic development in New Orleans while reinforcing the burgeoning life sciences industry in New Orleans and the surrounding region.
Dr. Rebecca MarkThe Greenberg Family Professorship & Cole Fellow in Community Engagement Through English and the Arts, Root Cultures, and Innovative Pedagogy
THIS YEAR Dr. Mark was awarded the prestigious Tulane Weiss Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Her current work focuses on the university’s relationship with local, traditional “root” cultures. Dr. Mark will offer a symposium in the fall of 2016 to discuss possible models moving forward.
Dr. Vicki MayerThe Louise and Leonard Riggio Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in Digital Humanities Innovations
THIS YEAR Dr. Mayer launched the NOLA Digital Consortium, which unites humanities projects from regional universities, archives, and nonprofits. Dr. Mayer’s work focuses on open access digital archives that enable students and faculty to share information with researched communities, and to preserve this research for future generations.
PAST SE PROFESSORS
Nghana Lewis, Ph.D.2011-2013
Byron Mouton, AIA2011-2013
Aaron Schneider, Ph.D.2011-2012
II
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Through both academic and co-curricular learning,
students develop core competencies in empathy, humility,
creative- and visual-thinking skills, rapid prototyping
and critique, and collaboration in diverse teams. Inside
and outside the classroom, design thinking approaches
empower students, faculty, administration, staff, and
community partners to promote empathy, creative
confidence, collaboration, and social innovation.
In 2014-2015, Ann Yoachim, Visiting Professor of Practice
and Laura Murphy, Carnegie Corporation of NY Professor
of Social Entrepreneurship, led teaching, outreach, and
scholarship on design thinking for a range of campus
and community partners. Allison Schiller and Maille
Faughnan taught sections of the undergraduate design
thinking class (SISE 3010) and were involved in outreach
activities such as the Fast 48 boot camp in design
thinking. Maille Faughnan, a doctoral student, is exploring
how human-centered design is informing international
development practice.
Design thinking outreach spans short conversations, 3-
hour introductory “crash course” workshops, a 3-day boot
camp experience, as well as a semester-long undergraduate
course. Over the past year, many informational meetings
were held with community agencies, faculty, staff, and
administrators from across campus who are eager to learn
how design thinking can contribute to their work.
Tulane is uniquely positioned to infuse
design thinking into the undergraduate
liberal arts curriculum and extend
it throughout campus. Our human-
centered approach to design thinking
cultivates mindsets that embrace
ambiguity and agile thinking while
moving towards solution and action-
oriented goals. Using diverse tools
and approaches, students learn more
deeply about themselves and about
challenges in their communities.
DESIGN THINKING
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Here is a snapshot of design thinking in action at Tulane University and in New Orleans. The project entailed many conversations and workshops in partnership with Taylor.
BACKGROUND
In Spring 2014, Taylor’s Design Thinking Team held a
series of workshops and boot camps used to introduce
the Endowed Professors of Social Innovation and Social
Entrepreneurship to the design thinking process. Carol
Whelan, an Education Professor and Endowed Professor in
Social Entrepreneurship, was intrigued by the process and
helped lead a subsequent design thinking session with
the Young African Leaders Institute (YALI). Inspired by her
experience with YALI, Whelan leveraged her connections in
the community to create design thinking training and an
education boot camp for teachers across New Orleans, LA,
and Chicago, IL.
DESIGN THINKING FOR EDUCATORS
In the summer of 2014, a Curriculum Design Team
was created that represents educators from youth
development programs and Taylor, as well as: technology
and curriculum specialists, PK-12 teachers from local part-
ner schools, Tulane faculty from Liberal Arts and Sciences
departments, and education professors. Curriculum
Design Teams were given guiding questions to explore
throughout the semester. Three Innovation Interns were
hired to research issues that could inform discussion. The
teams met monthly and shared their recommendations
with the TPCP Advisory Board in December 2014.
At the first day-long meeting in early September, edu-
cators were introduced to design thinking through an
empathy exercise in which participants must interview
each other. First, teachers created "How might we…"
lists and defined problems. Next, teachers gave their
imaginations and creativity a voice by building physical
prototypes of their concepts. Finally, the teams shared
their prototypes and received feedback from the group.
Over the subsequent months, small subteams held Design
Team meetings before the whole group returned to Flower
Hall for a Design Thinking and Social Innovation follow-up
session in December 2014. Groups shared their problem
challenges and ideas for solutions. Teachers harnessed
the collective perspectives and strengths of the curriculum
design teams. Teams then continued the ideation process.
Recommendations were posted in charts, and teachers
voted on their favorite ideas using divergent and conver-
gent thinking and reflection that gave everyone a voice.
TPCP staff and design teams continued to implement
recommendations throughout spring 2015. The Design
Thinking process work culminated in the development of
a prototype for a new "Residency Program.” Later, TPCP
applied for and received a grant through the Louisiana
Department of Education that will allow it to pilot the
Residency Program this fall.
EDUCATION BOOT CAMP
Meanwhile, teachers and teacher educators were interested
in learning more about the design thinking and how it
could benefit them in their classrooms. In April, Taylor and
SE Professor Carol Whelan partnered with Garrett Mason
of St Martin’s School in New Orleans and Carla Silver of
Leadership + Design in Los Angeles, California, to hold a
boot camp for Educators at Flower Hall. With support from
a Believe and Prepare Grant, Mason and Silver were hired
to lead the session. Attendees included over 50 teachers
and leaders from Tulane and ten other schools: Lusher
Charter School, Plessy-Ferguson Charter School, Discovery
Charter, Bricolage Charter, St Martin’s, St Andrew, Holy
Rosary, Academy of Sacred Heart, The Bishop's School in
San Diego, and a middle school in Houston.
Throughout the course of the boot camp, Educators chal-
lenged themselves to "Redesign a student experience
that teaches creativity, courage, collaboration, curiosity, or
empathy." Groups empathized with users, gained insights,
defined the challenge, and ideated potential solutions.
CASE STUDY:DESIGN THINKING FOR EDUCATORS
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ENHANCEMENTS
RENOVATION OF DESIGN THINKING, DOING, AND TEACHING SPACE
With substantial growth in the SISE program and the strategic
merger between CELT-SI and Taylor, Tulane decided to undertake an
architectural redesign of Flower Hall. Fabricated under the guidance
of architect and adjunct faculty member, Marianne Desmarais, the
redesign creates additional study space and informal seating, two
additional rooms for classes, and flexible meeting space. There will
be open work space for Taylor Student Fellows, enclosed co-working
office space for Taylor staff, a Director’s office, a kitchen, and additional
storage space.
The graphics below show elements of the Phase II redesign: an internal
view of the new space, which features glass walls that maximize
simultaneous use of the space while preserving natural light and
encouraging collaboration among students, faculty and staff.
DEVELOPMENTS
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SISE ACADEMIC PROGRAM
In May 2015 a SISE Retreat brought together professors,
instructors, and staff from Taylor, the Social Innovation
and Social Entrepreneurship academic program, and the
Social Innovation Core at CELT. Attendees identified and
discussed key issues, “big ideas,” ongoing issues, changes
in staff and faculty roles, and crosscutting themes. The
group also established central learning objectives as a
way to improve the program moving forward. In 2015-
2016, the SISE team will use the theme of “inequality
and inequity” as a thread for work in academic and co-
curricular programs.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT INTERNSHIP & MENTORING
This past spring the SISE Minor successfully piloted a
service-learning internship class (SISE 4560), which
is expected to triple in enrollment in fall 2015. Taylor
is currently seeking funding to offer paid internship
experiences for students interested in developing skills
in social innovation and social entrepreneurship. The
center also seeks to formalize internship opportunities
for undergraduate students. A robust internship program
could cost $100,000 annually, including staff time.
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP
The Community Innovator’s Circle (CIC) is a new program
that offers a unique opportunity to support a small,
strategic cohort of innovative community organizations
through increased student engagement. Community
partners selected for this program would commit to sharing
their expertise with Taylor students through experiential
learning opportunities. The goal of the program is to
cultivate meaningful community engagement over the
entirety of a Tulane student’s academic career—not just
for one semester. A robust CIC program would cost up to
$250,000 annually, including staff time.
DESIGN THINKING
Taylor works to incorporate design thinking (DT) into
the ethos of the center, not only using DT to inform
methods and skills, but also to foster a mindset—a way
of being, thinking, and doing. Taylor hopes to extend
workshops, boot camps, and other activities to campus
and community partners. In the long term, Taylor aims
to improve the undergraduate student experience,
increasing recruitment and retention, and, ideally, earning
revenues. Faculty and staff will develop a plan for how
other departments will financially support this effort.
Design Thinking tools are useful for a broad audience and in
many contexts, from facilitating meetings, to redesigning
spaces, to solving social problems. Taylor will continue to
develop materials, language, and training experiences
that convey the value and fit of design thinking training for
different audiences, from undergraduates to professors,
campus entrepreneurs, and community partners.
UPDATES
STAFF UPDATES
As a result of the expanded mission offered through the
establishment of the center, programming underwent
a comprehensive reorganization to ensure that Taylor
is meeting the needs of the Tulane and New Orleans
community. Co-curricular programs, previously housed
under the Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching
(CELT), were incorporated into Taylor on June 1, 2015.
TAYLOR STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS
The previous CELT-SI Fellows program has evolved into
Taylor Student Fellows. Eight Fellows have been hired for the
2015-2016 academic year, including a communications
and marketing team, an expanded Changemaker Institute
team, and new areas of focus in event coordination and
design thinking.
13
DRAFT
AUGUST 27
#02
ANNUAL REPORT
2014-2015
CONTACT
taylor.tulane.edu
200 Flower Hall
Tulane University
6823 Saint Charles AvenueNew Orleans, LA [email protected]
Printed on Mohawk Options 100% Post-Consumer Waste with soy-based ink.
FSC Certified, Green Seal Certified, Green-e Certified, and manufactured with wind-generated electricity.
Dissolving BoundariesInspiring Collaboration
Exploring Scalable Solutions
Top Related