Northern Illinois University
College of Education

Within our strategic action planning framework, we have articulated our commitment to being innovative. We value generating ideas that support meaningful change. This creates new opportunities and improves programs, practices and processes. One of our five strategic priorities is Innovative Practice which is a commitment to offer innovative curricula and programs of study that emphasize hands-on, real-world experiences to prepare students for career success.

College Strategic Innovation Team (C-SIT)

The College Strategic Innovation team seeks to foster and enact strategic innovation in the College of Education through new, interdepartmental and transdisciplinary approaches.

We will work to identify and support the development and rapid implementation of new strategic and innovative initiatives aligned with the College of Education vision, mission, values and priorities.

Submit Your Innovative Ideas!

Have you ever found yourself thinking if only we could do this process this way, or I wish we offered this program here or if we could get access to this resource, it would change the way we support our students? There is now a simple way for you to convey your innovative and new ways of thinking to the C-SIT team. You don’t have to know all the details, or even determine if it is ultimately feasible, we are just encouraging the sharing of ideas and outside-of-the-box thinking.

Submit your idea using our short innovative idea form and it will be routed to the C-SIT team for review. Ideas will be reviewed based on when it was submitted, per the timeline outlined below. Submitters will be alerted when an idea has been assigned to a subcommittee for review and after the full committee review to share next steps.

Review cycle

• Idea submissions: Jan. 13 – March 15
• Subcommittee review: March 15 – April 15
• Full committee review: May 15

Review cycle

• Idea submissions: March 16 – May 15
• Subcommittee review: May 15 – June 15
• Full committee review: July 15

Review cycle

• Idea submissions: May 16 – July 15
• Subcommittee review: July 15 – Aug. 15
• Full committee review: Sept.15

Review cycle

• Idea submissions: July 16 – Sept.15
• Subcommittee review: Sept. 15 – Oc. 15
• Full committee review: Nov.15

Review cycle

• Idea submissions: Sept. 16 – Nov. 15
• Subcommittee review: Nov. 15 – Dec.15
• Full committee review: Jan. 15

Review cycle

• Idea submissions: November 16 – January 15
• Subcommittee review: January 15 – February 15
• Full committee review: March 15

Feel free to reach out to any of the C-SIT team members for additional information: Jamie Brown, Tony Calderala, Laurie Elish-Piper, Todd Gilson, Susan Mizgalski, Kassandra Santos, Donna Werderich, Tyler Wood, Natalie Young.

Innovation Idea Form