Priorities:Susquehanna University Student Priorities

Overview

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Susquehanna University is a private liberal arts college located in the town of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Susquehanna University is dedicated to helping students become proactive leaders through academics, service, and personal assets, which is represented through the University motto “Achieve, Lead, Serve”. Susquehanna allows students to engage and facilitate conversation through our clubs and organizations as well as our Global Opportunities (GO) program, which connects students with the world by establishing a GO academic requirement. While there are opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, such as the Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor, the university has room for improvement. 

One of the biggest challenges that Susquehanna faces is the lack of collaboration between the Sigmund Weis Business School and the School of Arts and Sciences. Students focus on individual departmental disciplines and associate the words "entrepreneurship" and "innovation" strictly with business. The main objective of our University Innovation Fellows Leadership Circle is to implement more innovation and entrepreneurship programs on campus and promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

Spring 2015 Pitch -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6fupPb51eI

Fall 2016 Pitch -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhbBjd26XYA

Student Priorities

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STRATEGY ONE: PARTNERSHIP WITH UNICEF

Partner with UNICEF and implement the Innovation in Education campaign on campus.

• Collaborate with UNICEF and the campus initiative.
  • Innovation in Education Campaign.
  • Ideal Start-up date - Fall 2019.
• Integrate Innovation in Education Campaign on campus to raise awareness of the needforinnovation and entrepreneurship programs on campus at the local and global level.
  • Focus on Innovation and or Entrepreneurship as an interdisciplinary focus.
  • Grow exposure of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor on campus.
  • Encourage local awareness of Innovation in Education and plausible solutions.
  • Facilitate global awareness of Innovation in Education and plausible solutions.
• Develop a continuity plan to sustain Innovation in Education Campaign on campus in future years to create stability and longevity of the plan.
• Identify resources and funding available to students, faculty, and staff.
  • Funding for students working with campus initiative on innovation projects on and off campus.
  • Publicize funding, stakeholder assistance, and global outreach to maintain campus-wide participation.
  • Connect with student leaders on campus with a focus in philanthropy work
    • Greek Life and philanthropy organization collaboration.

STRATEGY TWO: INNOVATION IN THE ARTS

Eliminate innovation and entrepreneurship disciplinary stigma to encourage innovation other academic fields, such as the arts, to maintain interdisciplinary collaboration.

• Understand current underrepresentation of arts programs on campus and incorporate new innovative solutions for arts education.
• Create event catered to the arts to encourage creativity and original thinking on campus.
  
  • ​Hold campus events to showcase student creations and ideas.
• Utilize on-campus creative spaces to raise awareness of such locations.
  • Encourage use of new makerspace to facilitate conversation and hold artistic events in the new establishment.
• Involve local community with makerspace to collaborate and discover solutions the local community would like to see implemented in relation to the arts.
  • Collaborate with the music center in town to encourage arts recognition, participation, and innovative events.
    
• Bring organizations to campus to understand current problems in innovation in other academic fields of study.
  • Identify needs on campus and collaborate with local partners to create innovative events pertaining to the arts.
  • Engage local businesses to help students see innovation as a constant process and not commodity based.

STRATEGY THREE: STRENGTHEN AND GROW EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

• Integrate experiential learning into existing curriculum for all students
  • Establish at least one experiential course in every academic department
• Partner with Political Science department and interested students, facultyandstaff to leverage our role as a large Snyder County employer in order to promote pro-innovation policies in Harrisburg
• Increase student involvement in long-term research (projects lasting at least two semesters)
• Strengthen and expand on offerings and aspects of Susquehanna’s Global Opportunities/Cross CulturalStudy Abroad Requirement
  • Createmechanismfor students studying abroad to contribute to recruiting international students: short-term or degree-seeking
  • Establishtemplatefor returning GO students who are now inspired to engage with world-wideservice or community engagement: “plug and play” into localcommunity
    • Additionally, establishtemplatefor departing GO students to proactively research volunteer opportunities they will have while abroad/research nonprofits in the area
• Establish a “life-entrepreneurship” type program forfirstyearand sophomore students basedon:who am I, where am I going, and how do I get there?
  • Focus on values – how to best incorporate values intocareerpath and goals
  • Create and sustain a culture of self-efficacy and self-governance, particularly in the residence halls
• Involve students in applied research
  • Createan innovativeGlobal Opportunities (GO) Short program tied to a faculty’s research, involving continuous research before and after the trip
  • Begin with identifying a problem, then return to solve the problem, and later implement innovative idea abroad

STRATEGY FOUR: IMPLEMENT INNOVATIVE HEALTH STRATEGIES

• Bring movement to students: install walking desks on campus (treadmill with desk attached, enabling students to exercise and study simultaneously)
  • Start with a few in the library and/ormakerspace, eventually have more in academic buildings
• Increase student input regarding dining/cuisine options througheasierfeedback mechanism
• Partner with Aramark to increase culinary education events on campus
  • Opportunities for students to learn how to cook through Adulting 101-Sessions and Residential Life Community Programs
• Launch color system at dining locations: red, yellow, green for healthiness level of food options to giveperspectiveof ratioof healthy to unhealthy options and encourage healthy behavior

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Related links

Cohort Change Story Platform (Fall 2017)

https://www.facebook.com/SusquehannaUIF/

Pitch Video (Fall 2016)

Pitch Video (Spring 2015)

Susquehanna University Student Priorities

Susquehanna University - University Innovation Fellows

2015 Fellows

Ethan Eastwood  (Spring 2015)

Alexis Gargin  (Spring 2015)

Pierce Logan Perkins  (Spring 2015)

Tiffany Richards  (Spring 2015)

2016 Fellows

Hana Feiner (Fall 2016)

Aviel Stein (Fall 2016)

Rachel Tate (Fall 2016)

2017 Fellows

Tonia Hall (Fall 2017)

Alexandra Haller (Fall 2017)

Damian Munoz (Fall 2017)

Daniel Yim (Fall 2017)

2018 Fellows

Leah Cieniawa (Fall 2018)

Brianna Murphy (Fall 2018)

Joseph Morante (Fall 2018)

Kyle Williams (Fall 2018)