Higher Education Design Accelerator

Catalyzing innovation and change across regional public universities

The Design Accelerator provides an opportunity to support the upward mobility of institutions, the students they serve, and the overall educational fabric of the higher education systems. Regional stewardship led by universities include human capital development; workforce development, partnerships with industry, local government and community engagement to design and support a thriving social ecosystem. The Design Accelerator’s model deploys a design that support and encourages collaboration between participating institutions for a multiplier effect within the region.

About the Design Accelerator

The Design Accelerator builds capacity across a state system to design and drive innovative, high impact student outcomes.

The Design Accelerator Experience

The Design Accelerator focuses on a specific challenge identified at the system-level. Design teams from participating institutions identify ideas to address the challenge, then work with design experts and mentors to structure and advance their ideas and iteration towards implementation. The Accelerator is run as a hybrid experience with in-person and synchronous virtual sessions.

The program expertly weaves in the real-world decision making of institutional leaders and the needs of their stakeholders, utilizing UDI frameworks across their learning journey. During this experience, leaders will ideate and explore opportunities through multi-modal thinking, then prototype and iterate their challenges through testing, feedback collection and refinement.

Designed around a systems-level challenge

The Design Accelerator focuses on a specific challenge identified at the system-level. Design teams from participating institutions identify ideas to address the challenge, then work with design experts and mentors to structure and advance their ideas and iterate towards implementation. The program expertly weaves in the real-world decision making of institutional leaders and the needs of their stakeholders, utilizing critical frameworks across their learning journey.

Advances impactful outcomes for institutions and systems

By blending synchronous and asynchronous experiences, the Design Accelerator drives ideation and implementation planning for innovative student-focused solutions and regional stewardship. Teams will work within and across institutions to develop prototypes for addressing central challenges within the region.

The Design Accelerator is organized around two key frameworks: Principled Innovation and IMPACT

The IMPACT Framework anchors the experience

The IMPACT Framework is woven throughout the Design Accelerator experience providing a proven approach to advancing ideas to implementation. Each session in the multi-month program is focused on one element of the framework to support iteration of the prototype toward a well-defined implementation plan.

The PI Framework puts people at the center of the solution

The Principled Innovation (PI) Framework supports the ability for leaders to imagine new concepts, catalyze ideas and form new solutions, guided by principles that create positive change. It carefully considers context and larger systems while placing the people who are affected by the problem at the center of the proposed solution.

Who's involved

Systems-level change requires systems-level engagement

How the Design Accelerator works within your system and institutions.

For Chancellors, Regents and System Leaders

The Accelerator benefits Chancellors seeking to rapidly advance ideas that lead to transformation across the system.

What does Chancellor engagement look like?

Select the transformational challenge to be addressed
Provide context and direction for university presidents to ensure the project is integrated into institutional priorities
Serve as UDI’s executive sponsor, engaging at critical points throughout the design experience
Minimizing system-level barriers that hinder progression

For Presidents, Vice Chancellors and University and Institutional Leaders

The Accelerator benefits institutional leadership wanting to inject new approaches and tactics for change into the institution.

What does engagement look like?

Identify and assemble university design team to address transformational challenge
Brief transformation team and key stakeholders on expectations and commitments
Serve as institutional sponsor, engaging at critical points throughout the design experience
Holding teams accountable to deliverables

Design Teams are selected by the system and institutional leadership to empower them to support their institution throughout the Design Accelerator process. The Accelerator benefits Design
Teams focused on creating sustainable change in student outcomes.

What does Design Team engagement look like?

Take ownership of the transformational challenge
Drive progress in alignment with expectations and commitments
Activate institutional or system-level leadership when barriers to innovation and change arise
Hold yourself and team members accountable to design, prototype and iterate new models focused on student outcomes

Design Accelerator Core Outcomes

Develop innovative solutions

through new design approaches that support continuous
focus on scale and long-term change.

Accelerate implementation

on high-impact initiatives at institutions aligned with system priorities.

Cultivate new leadership capabilities

to navigate challenges via mindsets, skillsets and toolsets

Build networks

within systems across participating universities.

Interested in learning more? Connect with the University Design Institute today.

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