Changes proposed by:
Jim Sweeney (School of Chemical, Biological & Environmental Engineering, Professor Emeritus) (sweeney)
These questions are designed to produce the equivalent of a 2-page summary of the proposed program that can be used to create an Early Alert document that will be submitted to the Statewide Provosts Council.
4. What is the anticipated enrollment (Fall Term headcount) at the launch of the program and the planned goals for 5 and 10 years out?
Create, Change or Terminate a College or Academic Unit
Objectives, Functions, and Activities
Design for Social Impact
Undergraduate Certificate in Design for Social Impact
The proposed course designator should have an identified purpose within the curricular structure of Oregon State University.
This subject code of DSI will serve future, new courses in the undergraduate certificate in 'Design for Social Impact'. This certificate is currently in submission through CIM separately (for now with all existing courses). This certificate has been designed and developed by the OSU Impact Studio sponsored Engineering and Design for Society (EDS) leadership team (and via substantial co-design with faculty, students, and leadership from across the university). The host college for EDS at this stage, the proposed certificate, and planned DSI courses is the Honors College (with the Deans of Liberal Arts, Business, and Engineering also serving as initiative sponsors). A first new DSI course (to be proposed once a new subject code is approved, and added to the certificate curriculum once approvals are at the correct stages) will be DSI4XX Multdisciplinary Design for Social Impact. The certificate curriculum also includes four elective course sequences in: design for sustainability, design for technical innovation in the arts, design for social change, and transdisciplinary design in society. The EDS leadership team in co-design with our multidisciplinary, initiative faculty have identified the desirability to develop a slate of future DSI courses to serve as 'anchor' courses for each of these option areas. The DSI subject code will also be used for new omnibus courses to be available to students such as independent study, internships, research and scholarship, seminar, special topics, etc.
Many educational institutions around the world have recognized the need and demand for cross-cutting courses and programs that enable and empower highly-talented students for less-traditional career paths. This is especially the case for programs that combine a solid disciplinary body of knowledge with transdisciplinary skills and aspirations to benefit society. Design and principles of design thinking offer a broad framework for uniting such students and faculty. Students are thus provided with tools and ways of thinking for taking on complex problems in need of deep solutions. Design is often human-centered, inherently based in activity and doing, and relies strongly upon principles of collaborative and inclusive teaming and co-creation. The undergraduate certificate in Design for Social Impact will provide a design centered curriculum with a central theme of the betterment of society through solutions aligned with society’s grand challenges and consistent with OSU SP4.0. The certificate, including future courses to be developed under the DSI subject code, is planned as a highly interdisciplinary program structured for open-minded, inquisitive students across a range of personas who desire to develop the design skills and practices they will need to serve society as collaborative thinkers, informed doers, and accountable leaders. DSI courses might be of interest to undergraduate students from any major at OSU (not only those in Honors).
To our knowledge, the requested DSI course designator is unique both at OSU and at other institutions.
Responsibility for the integrity and oversight of the proposed course designator should be clearly identified.
As the host College for the Engineering and Design for Society initiative, including the proposed certificate in Design for Social Impact, and future courses with the new DSI designator, the Honors College (HC) will be administratively responsible for DSI course scheduling, catalog updates, etc. The EDS Academic Director, Prof. J. Sweeney along with HC Associate Dean S. Rodgers, will be the primary faculty contacts.
The EDS initiative faculty leadership team (with representation at this time from the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Business, Engineering, and Liberal Arts) will be responsible for consistency and outcomes assessment for courses with the new DSI designator, reporting through the HC Curriculum Committee and HC Associate Dean Rodgers.
The Honors College will receive credit for SCH generated by courses with the new subject code.
Prof. Sweeney (EDS initiative Academic Director), in close collaboration with the EDS initiative faculty leadership team, and HC Associate Dean Rodgers (working with HC staff), will be responsible for new course and related program communications to students, advisors in students' home majors, Admissions, stakeholders, etc.
Who will benefit from the new course designator, and what changes will result from its implementation.
The new DSI course designator will benefit students through the multidisciplinary creation of new courses in the theme of design through the lens of social betterment and impact. Through student focus groups and surveys, we have seen high student interest in the creation of design-centered courses and curricula that will enable students to better understand and explore solutions of impact to society's great challenges while breaking out of traditional disciplinary 'silos'.
The intent of courses with the new DSI designator is to complement and not compete with any existing course designators or programs. Faculty in the existing design-related programs at the university (e.g. in mechanical engineering in COE, the design programs in COB, art and design programs in CLA, etc.) have been directly involved in creating the related Design for Social Impact certificate and will continue to be involved with new DSI designator programming in order to ensure that this partnership continues wherein DSI courses maintain a multidisciplinary nature.
Cross-listings or curricular equivalencies with other courses at OSU (existing or planned) are not expected. The proposed undergraduate certificate in Design for Social Impact has been planned and developed in close collaboration and co-design with faculty from across the university, and already makes use of many existing courses. The DSI designator will be used for new, trandisciplinary course development in the design for social impact theme where a traditional, disciplinary course listing in any existing program (outside of the DSI certificate and the Honors Colllege) is not appropriate.
It is unlikely that new DSI courses will exhibit equivalencies with courses outside of OSU given the relatively unique nature of the design for social impact theme and subject matter.
Not applicable as no existing course designators will expire.
Description and Requirements
Memorandum of Understanding
MOU for Offering an Existing Academic Program at a Different Physical Campus
Program Coordination Requirements
OSU-Cascades leadership and the College Dean agree that there is sufficient coordination of the program between all campuses offering the program.
Both (all) campuses agree that the following individuals are appointed as the primary lead for program development coordination, unless otherwise notified of an alternate:
A major factor in continued excellence is the maintenance and refreshment of courses and the program. As part of maintenance, the College and any campus offering the program commit to the following: