Innovation at UNC and the IAH

Chancellor Holden Thorp officially announced the Innovate@Carolina initiative on University Day, Oct. 12, 2010. A few weeks later, on Oct. 28, the Chancellor delivered a talk, "Beyond the Sciences: Why the World's Problems Need the Whole University," to expand upon that vision. The Chancellor's full remarks are available here. The Innovate@Carolina Roadmap is UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit innovate.unc.edu.

Chancellor Holden Thorp appointed the Innovation Circle, a distinguished group of alumni, to consider how to make Carolina a world leader in innovative research and education. The IAH, working with Barbara Hyde and Julia Sprunt Grumbles,  IAH Advisory Board  members who are also members of the Innovation Circle, hosted a series of conversations to specify what innovation in the arts and humanities means and to craft a list of concrete ways to foster such innovation at UNC.

Last summer, the IAH announced the five recipients of the inaugural IAH Innovation Fund, which supports innovation in humanistic and artistic enterprise among fixed-term and tenure-track faculty at UNC. In addition to monetary aid, the IAH has created a strategic network of partnerships with UNC colleagues, alumni and friends, and external resources to help launch the projects. Each team has received support in everything from creating budgets and work plans to developing communications and fund-raising strategies. 

The fund was designed to encourage faculty to take risks, and with that in mind, each project has seen both success and setbacks.  Some have made huge advances over the last six months, while others are still in the planning phase, regrouping and recruiting new team members. Funded projects may receive up to $50,000 over the course of three years, and it is this extended partnership that sets the fund apart and helps ensure that each team will realize its vision.

In the spirit of innovation and collaboration, the IAH also held a series of “micro talks” at Hyde Hall throughout the fall for all faculty members who submitted proposals for the Innovation Fund—including those that did not receive funding. These gatherings provided an opportunity for faculty to give a five-minute presentation to like-minded colleagues as well as a group of resource providers that the IAH hand-selected. The micro talks were split into four categories – digital arts and humanities; graduate/undergraduate teaching and learning; primary and secondary education; and civic engagement. Thirty-six faculty teams from across campus presented to more than 50 resource providers and then had an opportunity to network informally over refreshments.  

In December, the IAH announced another call for proposals for the Innovation Fund. Projects most likely to be funded will demonstrate that they are in some way sustainable, scalable and translatable, on a departmental, local or even global scale. The IAH especially wishes to encourage the creation of cross-disciplinary teams in which faculty and students collaborate to produce a collective response to a particular topic or problem. This year, the application process has been revamped, offering faculty a chance to pitch their project to the selection team in addition to a written proposal. For more information on the fund, please click here.