By Jamie L. Freedman
Innovation is quickly becoming part of GW’s institutional culture, as the university’s Innovation Task Force, now in its second year, continues to gain momentum.
Implementation planning is well underway for the six top innovation ideas generated by the GW community last year, and the ITF’s Exploration Committee is now hard at work evaluating and prioritizing numerous additional proposals with the goal of identifying the next set of top ideas to showcase this spring.
The 14-member, cross-disciplinary committee meets biweekly to discuss and rank the ideas utilizing a comprehensive nine-criterion vetting process--weighing factors ranging from resources needed and expected academic benefits to potential savings realized.
“We discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with each idea and vote on which proposals have the highest merit and traction,” says Michael King, professor of chemistry and chairman of the chemistry department, who co-chairs the committee with David Green, M.B.A. ’05, assistant treasurer and executive director of the business management and analysis group.
“The conversation is very far-reaching,” says Dr. King. “Will the proposed ideas enhance the experience of all our stakeholders? Will they generate bankable savings for reinvestment? Are they aligned with GW’s strategic goals? What are the investment costs?”
Over the coming months, the exploration committee will continue to search for new ideas while vetting and ranking the many ITF submissions that have poured in, winnowing them down to 12 to 15 top prospects by spring. Like last year, leading ideas will be presented to the GW community for input at a series of idea showcases. The top-ranked proposals will subsequently be presented to President Steven Knapp and his council of senior administrators for final selection.
“It’s a very open, collegial process, marked by goodwill and a real interest in improving the university experience for all stakeholders,” says Dr. King, who has been a member of GW’s faculty for 37 years. “Our committee members come from all corners of the university and bring tremendous insights, ideas and energy to the table.”
The Exploration Committee’s mission is twofold, Dr. King says. “Our goal is to solicit new ideas that will enhance GW’s academic enterprise, while continuing to discuss and evaluate the numerous excellent proposals submitted to the ITF last year that are still on the table. We urge the GW community to continue to think big, broadly and creatively and to submit their suggestions to the ITF at [email protected].”
Over the next four years, the committee will continue to seek out and analyze ideas aimed at making university operations more effective, efficient and innovative. “Our objective is to embed innovation in the university culture,” says Jeffrey Lenn, associate vice president for academic affairs and co-chairman of the Innovation Task Force Steering Committee. “We look forward to moving forward on many more innovations in future years.”
Lauding the Exploration Committee members for their dedication, Dr. King says, “All the people sitting around the table have full-time jobs plus, and they’ve volunteered to take on these extra responsibilities because they are strongly committed to the institution and its mission. I’m very fortunate to have served on a number of university-wide committees over the years and it’s always a pleasure to get to work with some incredible colleagues from across the university.”
Dr. King and Mr. Green give a special shout out to the ITF’s analytic support team, stating, “They have a very short period of time to review a large number of ideas and come back to us with in-depth, detailed, one-page analyses that are vital to our decision-making process,” says Mr. Green.
Dr. King emphasizes the importance of the ITF’s community approach, pointing out that many universities have hired consultants to do similar work—resulting in “top down” decisions often met with resistance by stakeholders. “The Innovation Task Force reaches out to the entire GW community and provides an opportunity for the institution as a whole to buy into and be a part of the process,” he says.
“Many universities throughout the country are currently forced to focus on cost savings initiatives due to severe financial pressures,” Dr. King adds. “Thankfully, GW is in a strong financial position which gives us the opportunity to focus as a community on how to do things better so that we can stay ahead of the game and capture resources to reinvest in academics.”
“Innovation is quickly becoming a part of the culture at GW,” Mr. Green says. “There’s real momentum and energy behind it, and I am glad to be a part of it.”