{"id":27608,"date":"2024-12-11T11:31:46","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T16:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=27608"},"modified":"2024-12-11T11:35:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T16:35:33","slug":"marshall-announces-four-new-individuals-as-innovation-catalysts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2024\/12\/marshall-announces-four-new-individuals-as-innovation-catalysts\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshall announces four new individuals as Innovation Catalysts"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marshall University\u2019s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter) has named four people to the university\u2019s second cohort of Innovation Catalysts, a first-of-its-kind program aimed at training the higher education community in design thinking, a specialized approach to solving complex, human-centered problems.<\/p>\n

Dr. April Fugett, professor and executive director for the Center for Teaching and Learning, Jason Gibbs, STEAM Coordinator at the June Harless Center, Wes Spradlin, director of Marshall\u2019s off-campus centers and Toney Stroud, chief legal officer and vice president for strategic initiatives and corporate relations, comprise the new group.<\/p>\n

The goal of the innovation catalyst program, modeled after a similar program at financial technology firm Intuit, is to advance Marshall for All, Marshall Forever\u2019s strategic priorities of improving student achievement, affordability, and flexibility, as well as ultimately becoming the most agile institution in higher education in terms of responding to students\u2019 changing needs.<\/p>\n

To become an Innovation Catalyst, participants complete an intensive semester-long training on design thinking tools and techniques led by the iCenter Interim Assistant Director Maddy Branham, while also facilitating a design thinking project to solve a challenge in their academic discipline or department.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s cohort members focused on four separate projects including incorporating design thinking into first-year seminar courses, professional learning for K-12 teachers, food accessibility on Marshall\u2019s South Charleston campus and how to meet the growing demands of housing for Marshall students. \u00a0It\u2019s anticipated the projects will be finalized in the coming weeks, with implementation in the spring.<\/p>\n

Tricia Ball is the iCenter\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to have at least one Innovation Catalyst in every academic discipline and department, helping us embed design thinking into the very fabric of the university. With their support, we can teach future teachers, doctors, engineers, and more to apply design thinking in their fields, empowering them to scale this transformative mindset across the state and Appalachia,” Ball said.<\/p>\n

The group was recognized Dec. 3 for their work at a reception at the Brad D. Smith Center for Business and Innovation.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the Innovation Catalyst program or design thinking, contact: Tricia Ball at ballt@marshall.edu<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marshall University\u2019s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter) has named four people to the university\u2019s second cohort of Innovation Catalysts, a first-of-its-kind program aimed at training the higher education community in design thinking, a specialized approach to solving complex, human-centered problems. Dr. April Fugett, professor and executive director for the Center for Teaching and Learning, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,49,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-icenter","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27608"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27614,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27608\/revisions\/27614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}