Changes

Curriculum: (1 Quarter= 8 weeks= Length of Summer break)

First Week:

End of Base Design Thinking Introduction Program

7. Release program and start accepting applicants.

At Sophia University, I&E resources are limited and tend to be more easily accessible to specific students, such as those studying science and technology, business, economics, and management. Students in other departments – particularly those studying the humanities – have fewer opportunities to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity. This has created a gap between students. In addition, through the research we conducted for the Landscape Canvas, we determined that the I&E and creativity culture at Sophia was a 3 out of 10. As this number indicates, Sophia has not provided the best environment for students to grow their innovative or creative minds. Through the Interdisciplinary Forum, we aim to bring together Sophia University’s wide range of faculties and graduate schools in both the sciences and humanities and provide a space where students and faculty members can connect, exchange ideas, and build collaborative relationships.

The Interdisciplinary Forum will take place on a quarterly basis (once every three months) for students and faculty at Sophia University to discuss topics and themes related to I&E. To facilitate this forum, we will need to organize a group of students, faculty, and staff who can decide the quarterly themes, invite guest speakers, manage the social media platforms for advertising the forum, and oversee other important matters. Through these forums, we hope to influence students to become more open to new ideas, collaborate with different students from a wide range of departments and faculties, and achieve a more interdisciplinary community at Sophia.

1. Share our ideas with students and professors in order to collect feedback on specific matters, such as how to structure the forum and what themes to include.

2. Define what makes this forum distinct from other gatherings at Sophia.

While doing our research for the landscape canvas, we noticed that although Sophia University provides a lot of information for its students, it may be difficult to access that information if not delivered directly to the student. This seems especially to be the issue in regards to Innovation and Entrepreneurship. For students to get interested in I&E, it is important that the information about the opportunities the University provides is easily accessible to the students. Our assumption is that the Web Platform (Loyola) where most information is collected on a bulletin board, is not working as well as it should. It can be difficult to search for specific information, and there also seems to be a language barrier, as some information is not available in English. Therefore, one of our goals is to improve the information delivery of Sophia, mainly through improvement of the Loyola bulletin board.

We will need to have a dialog with the web Admins at Sophia to discuss what possibilities there are to improve the existing platform. However, on the basis of our findings, we see that although some students are satisfied with the current system, there have been identified some common problems through prototype testing, along with the feedback we have gotten from students via a questionnaire. Therefore, we believe that some minor modifications, and the addition of some functions, can have a significant impact on how students perceive the Loyola bulletin board, and in that way make important information even more accessible than it is now. Some of the changes we want to make to the Loyola Bulletin board includes:

- An own category for I&E

- The ability to customize the type of information students receive on email.

1. Create a first prototype, a vision of how we imagine it can look like. Furthermore, we have gathered feedback from students on their experiences and opinions about the Bulletin board’s functions.

2. Based on the feedback, make a more detailed list of improvements we want to make.

5. Launch the new, improved Loyola Bulletin board.

Sophia, as one of the represented schools in Japan, has provided opportunities and experiences for students to explore in their student lives. However, this information is often hidden in the school system, the websites, and bulletin boards. Often platforms for communication are filled with daily information such as school notifications and updates. Moreover, some program based opportunities are often communicated verbally by professors who do not show in the school online resources. Therefore, there is a need for students to have a central location where they could easily access this opportunity information to empower themselves and their school life. In other words, there is a need for Sophia university to have a virtual landscape that provides students with the latest programs/events where they can challenge themselves.

This platform requires support from professors, the administration and students. These key roles are crucial users of this hub, and considering ways of implementation is necessary. Not only do we want to communicate information about opportunities that we have, but also take the most efficient process and output to make it into a user-friendly platform. We aim to create a process that can be sustainably managed after we graduate, but also something easy to use for the next generation who will be operating the system.

1. In order to create this central hub, gathering as much information from professors, administrations, and from students/student organization is important. 2. Considering the information gathered, we would prototype a design of the website/platform that we would use for the hub. 3. Create the platform and implement functions for more efficiency of the platform. 4. Create templates and quick steps for those who will be adding information in the platform. 5. Try out the system with the information gathered. 6. Share it with a couple of students and revise the feedback points. 6. Open it to professors and students once updating the latest information. 7. Advertise the platform to the administration to be shared in the orientation for freshmen. 8. Advertise the platform to professors and students in class. 9. Fill in certain opportunities that are lacking or additional functions to adjust the diverse users in Sophia university.

One of the core opportunities we have identified is the aspect of the community as a birthplace for innovation at Sophia University. We have particularly noticed the lack of opportunities for student’s to dive into I&E and the missing point of contact for I&E interested students. Even though there are students who would like to explore their interest in I&E, a central location or platform to take the first bite-size experience is provided.

To address this opportunity, we would like to introduce a beginners pop-up I&E workshop for all people in the Sophia ecosystem. This workshop will be a three-hour crash course for participants to experience I&E basics by going through a Design Thinking process. Over one year, we will introduce a framework and guideline for the workshop that can be adopted by future UIF leadership circles and workshop graduates. Our workshops will be open to all people of Sophia, and we will aim for diverse teams in this concept. The workshop participant sizes could vary from 20 to 50 people.

For the pop-up workshops, we will not require significant support from Sophia University staff. Depending on the format, the UIF team will be able to facilitate the workshop entirely by themselves. In case of a physical format, we hope to receive support from the University for well-ventilated rooms on the Sophia campus. Additionally, we would require an innovation toolbox with resources that would need to be restocked regularly after every workshop. We will test out the workshop with various groups (product development students, global studies students and potentially freshmen) before opening doors to the entire Sophia community. For now, we will start with virtual workshops for classroom students and in-person workshops for first-year students, under the supervision of the University administration, which will allow us to adhere to COVID-19 pandemic regulations. For the project to gain momentum, we will also post updates on a social media account to bring students to our workshops in later phases. Key will be to train students in our guidelines so that they can be official workshop facilitators to ensure continuity at Sophia.

1. Prepare a questionnaire to find out student needs for the workshop framework in a virtual and physical setting. Based on questionnaire results develop basic guidelines, that can be adopted by Sophia (approved by Sophia Administration for on-site workshops), 2. Set vital target groups for the Y1 and set pop-workshop amount (present details to University), 3. Set up meetings with target group representatives (e.g. Prof. Maruyama with FGS, Dean Nakano for FLA, Dean Shimomura for FSE), 4. Draft one pop-up workshop guideline for beginners, 5. Create a marketing campaign that proposes this workshop as something accessible and available to all., 6. Use a test group in Horizon to test out workshops before implementation on campus, 7. Start with workshops. Ensure diversity numbers for the workshop., 8. Train students in workshop guidelines

Sophia University is home to many students who are passionate about learning about international cooperation. Many courses offered in Sophia encourage students to explore topics such as poverty, equality, gender and global warming. At the same time, Sophia University has established partnerships with many universities in different areas of the world. It offers students several overseas program opportunities in which the participants take classes which are provided by the local institution focusing on a specific topic.

Students who participate in these overseas programs perceive these as opportunities to find new areas of interest. They do so by observing diverse perspectives and talking to people who are at the frontline of their field of study. However, despite the skills and knowledge they gain, many students feel a lack of output from their learnings.

One student who cooperated with us in the UIF interviews had enrolled in a 3-week overseas program in Paris, France to study EU environmental law. However, she found it disappointing and wasteful that she was not able to implement her learnings into a real-life after her return. The student believed that her newly acquired knowledge could be utilized to improve environmental policies in Japan. The sense of disappointment is the opportunity we would like to address. Our project is a summer program which takes place in Sophia University to provide students with the platform of outputting the ideas earned in the overseas program.

There are three roles in this program, the organizing committee, the participants and the judge. The program is entirely run by the organizing committee, which consists of students who have participated in overseas programs before. The organizing committee and the judge suggests a topic problem, which the participants will develop solutions for in teams. The solution ideas generated by the participants will be voted in by the judge, and the top 3 solution ideas will be applied to Sophia University campus.

1. Form an initial program planning committee led by UIF fellow members., 2. Research overseas programs offered in Sophia University currently., 3. Interview the participants of the past overseas programs with the following questions. a) What were the new ideas you learned in the program? b) How would you want to apply the original idea in real life? 4. Collect the responses to the questions and research if the application environment respondents wished is offered in Sophia., 5. Invite more students to the program planning committee and brainstorm how the environment provided can be improved and design a program model., 6. Invite professors who will be the judge in the program., 7. Pitch the program model to the office and get an approval., 8. Make an official organizing committee consisting of students who have participated in an overseas program before., 9. Test run of the program model, reflection and adjustment.

https://universityinnovation.org/wiki/File:Storyboard_of_Open_Walls_for_Innovation.jpg

Sophia has one of the most internationally diverse and unique students in Tokyo. While the university is well known for its reputation of the humanities departments, when it comes to Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Sophia has been lacking behind other universities in Tokyo. The reason behind it does not necessarily mean the institution hasn't really invested in I&E, but rather that students never had the opportunity to engage with I&E and to actually practice it in order to truly grasp the potential of I&E.

Thus, before investing in any innovation labs, I&E boot camps, or I&E courses, students, as well as the institution as one, should work towards dismantling the narrative that I&E is only for the elite few, and work together towards understanding how innovation is for everyone. By introducing the Open Walls For Innovation Week, any open wall on campus becomes an innovative and entrepreneurial place for ideation, conversation, or to simply have fun. The goal is to create an innovative environment where students including the faculty, such as professors, are invited to share everything they have got to share, which they usually cannot do. This is would be extremely powerful since many students in Japan do not have the opportunity to truly engage with each other and to share ideas. Open Walls For Innovation wants to change that.

This project will not require any staff, since the people who will work the most are basically everyone who walks along the walls of Sophia. However, we would require a small team responsible for re-stocking resources of the innovation toolboxes. Since we will start out with a trial, at only one designated place, instead of everywhere, it will be easier to manage and calculate how many post-its, sharpies, and utilities will be used. As for now due to the COVID-19 pandemic students are not allowed to enter the campus, thus, this is the ideal time to plan, manage, and ask for help. In order for the project to gain momentum, we will also establish a social media account, as well as, an online platform for students who cannot come to campus to participate.

1. Conduct two pieces of research: Firstly, to understand whether students would participate and show interest in such a project. Secondly, to find sponsors or funds for the innovation toolboxes.

2. Formalize a Mission and Vision with the collected data

[[Category:Student Priorities]]

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