Innovation in Action

On August 13, 2015, Delaware Technical Community College faculty, staff and administrators committed to building a culture of innovation. While some institutions can survive by doing things the same way for decades, community colleges don’t have that luxury. Community colleges must monitor the trends in the economy, respond to market demands, tackle new challenges and continually look for ways to help our students succeed. This year, our commitment is to build a culture of innovation in how we support student success. Accomplishing this task will require us to:

• Be intentionally innovative in how we support student success – every employee should engage in innovative thinking
• Be thoughtful – innovation requires sound planning and execution to succeed
• Be open to ideas and taking risks – this includes being open to failure as well

This webpage is designed to encourage creative thinking and empower you to embrace innovative ideas. It provides resources on institutional and instructional innovation, as well as an online form to submit your ideas for consideration and potential funding through the “Innovation in Action” initiative. Submissions will be judged based on innovation, plan, impact on student success, practicality/sustainability and measurability, then reviewed and discussed with your vice president. The top three ideas will be recognized at the 2018 Employee Recognition Event, and one winning idea will be announced. Eligible members of the winning team each will receive a $1,000 cash award.

I challenge each of you to think outside the box and identify things you can do—in your role—to create a better experience for our students by supporting student success. Resources and videos of previous winners to inspire creative and innovative thinking can be found on this webpage.

Looking forward to an exciting and innovative year ahead!

Sincerely,
Mark T. Brainard