Two UNF professors join Stanford Faculty University Innovation Fellows
Two faculty members from the University of North Florida College of Education and Human Services have joined Stanford University’s d.School (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design) Faculty Innovation Fellows Program.
Dr. Amanda Pascale, associate professor of higher education administration, and Dr. Suzanne Ehrlich, associate professor of educational technology, training and development, are among 20 candidates from 16 higher education institutions around the world chosen to join the fellowship.
The University Innovation Fellows (UIF) program empowers students and faculty leaders to increase campus engagement with innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. During their two-year experience as Faculty Innovation Fellows, Pascale and Ehrlich will mentor students taking part in the UIF program, helping them to gain vital real-world skills and mindsets. Additionally, they will work to design a unique project that enhances the innovative ecosystem at UNF.
Pascale and Ehrlich will collaborate with their cohort of faculty candidates to learn new change strategies, develop projects, gather feedback on ideas and share resources.
Together, Pascale and Ehrlich are working on a project to increase student and faculty sense of belonging at UNF in the hope of impacting the larger problem of retention. They will be working with students and faculty across campus, utilizing the design thinking framework to create opportunities for connection and interaction, among students, faculty and staff.
As part of the cohort, they will meet regularly in small groups to share the opportunities for change they identified as well as ideas for projects that can make the most impact on students and their individual schools. Candidates’ proposed projects include funding programs, new majors, new classes and activities that connect the campus and the community.
In April, Pascale and Ehrlich will present their project findings and progress with other Faculty Fellows candidates at a program summit at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.