There’s a new name for design at the intersection of academic excellence, inclusion, and innovation at U-M.

At its core, the Office of Academic Innovation—formerly the Office of Digital Education & Innovation—is shaping learning to be more personalized, engaged, and lifelong. Its influence spans 68 initiatives and three specialized labs: the Digital Education & Innovation Lab (DEIL), the Gameful Learning Lab (GLL), and the Digital Innovation Greenhouse (DIG). The group has championed an array of projects from massive-open online courses (MOOCs) to personalized messaging in apps like ECoach and ART 2.0.

A presidential charge

The Office of Academic Innovation is charged by President Schlissel and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Pollack to steward the Academic Innovation Initiative, a formal effort announced in October. In broad strokes, the Academic Innovation Initiative will consider how U-M will lead the way for higher education through the information age and further strengthen our impact on society.

According to James L. Hilton, vice provost for academic innovation and dean of libraries at Michigan, “the Academic Innovation Initiative is an invitation to the entire campus to imagine again what the great public research university ought to look like for this century, this technology, this economy, this global scale, this workforce.”

Get involved

There are many opportunities to get involved with Academic Innovation: attend upcoming events, join the Ideas2017 Challenge, or connect with three faculty-led design groups.

Read more

• U-M president calls for Academic Innovation Initiative to set education strategy for the future
• Michigan’s ‘Next Step’ in Technology
• The Academic Innovation Blog
• Future of Education: Data-Supported Advising
• How Universities Can Grow a Culture of Academic Innovation

Ken Caldwell (ITS Communications) contributed to this story.