Priorities:University of North Florida Faculty Projects
Contents
Project Name: Hicks Honors College Ingenuity Center
Project by Faculty Innovation Fellows Candidate Jeff Chamberlain
Why is this project important to you, your department, & your Fellows?
To develop the Honors program around innovation, we need a space that will be a home for honors students, a connector to the whole university, and that fosters creativity and ingenuity.
Description
Our desire is for a brick-and-mortar Honors living and learning center with housing, classrooms, collaboration space, maker space, and faculty offices that is net zero on energy and (preferably) a living building. Failing a new building, however, we will work to repurpose other space on campus and incorporate virtual spaces as well (a central area that has a maker space but also a tech hub for collaboration and innovation).
Stakeholders served
- Honors students, students across campus who are interested in innovation
- UI Fellows, Millennium Fellows
- Faculty from every college (but champions particularly in Engineering, Building Management, Environmental Science, Public Health, Biology)
- Honors alumni
- Dean’s Council
- Local advocates of sustainability
Key Milestones
- December 2020: Key stakeholders consulted--dean’s council, faculty champions, students, alumni, architect
- March 2021: Cohort of UN Millennium Fellows to focus on sustainability on campus
- June 2021: Key partners and champions (dean’s council, faculty champions, students, alumni) united and allied; renderings created, and begin to be used for fundraising
- September 2021: Major donor lined up; architect firm contracted; alternately new campus space (and technology for virtual connections) identified
- December 2021: New/revised building plan developed; alternately new campus space undergoing renovation and technology purchased
- March 2022: Construction date set; alternately, new space opens and technology activated
An Innovation Portfolio
- Honors curricular materials
- Progress reports and/or newsletters
- Design materials
- Promotional materials
- Tweets, instagram (or other social media) posts of progress
Project Name: Engaging students on campus: Connecting first year students with intentional on-campus work opportunities.
Project by Faculty Innovation Fellows Candidates Suzanne Ehrlich and Amanda Pascale
Why is this project important to you, your department, & your Fellows?
The University of North Florida has struggled with engaging students on campus and retaining students. We fight a long standing reputation as a commuter school and our student data show that many of our students are working while being enrolled in school, which limits their time to engage in the social aspects of campus. Retention theory indicates that students need to integrate both academically and socially to a college campus. Institutionally, UNF is funded by state performance metrics, one of which measures student retention. Further, data show that students that work on campus are more likely to be engaged and retained than those that work off campus. However, although students have indicated wanting to obtain work on campus, many are unsure of how to navigate the process. Conversely, offices on campus have indicated that they have difficulty finding student workers to fill their vacancies. This projects solves a small problem (matching students with work opportunities) with impacts on a larger problem (student retention).
Description
We would like to organize an on campus job placement exchange. Campus entities with open student worker jobs would be onsite and first year students who would be interested in working on campus would attend and meet with potential employers to better match students with on campus opportunities.
Stakeholders served
- Students (specifically first year and transfer students)
- Administration and Staff in offices that hire student workers
- Administrators interested in increasing UNF student retention
Key Milestones
- December 2023: Connect with human resources to obtain list of all campus entities that have student workers
- March 2024:
- Connect with enrollment services to discuss how to identify students with on-campus work interest
- Research effective processes for placement exchanges
- June 2024: Make arrangements for event (space/connect with departments etc).
- August 2024: Hold placement exchange
- December 2024: Study impact of the event
- March 2025: Establish infrastructure for sustained implementation of the event
An Innovation Portfolio
- Implementation process document to demonstrate step-by-step process engaged in bringing project to life
- Research on the effective placement exchange processes
- Research from Impact study
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