University of Maryland
RIDING THE WAVE OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
Changemaker Campus since Fall 2008
University of Maryland’s social innovation program has been in the news a lot recently. From a Washington Post article to a significant segment on NPR’s Morning Edition, UMD is making its commitment to social entrepreneurship education heard loud and clear. In addition to improving UMD national visibility as a leader in the field, social entrepreneurship educators are working to support a “paradigm shift in higher education,” says Melissa Carrier, Director of the Center for Social Value Creation and change leader for the UMD Changemaker Campus team. “I see this paradigm shift happening on my campus in how we think about the undergraduate curriculum, in particular.”
Change has not come easy. UMD has experienced immense leadership turnover in both the President and Provost positions. It has been a challenge to keep up the growth in social entrepreneurship education throughout the leadership changes. “We have struggled to keep pace, so our accomplishments might look different from other Changemaker Campuses,” Melissa noted.
Spotlight on the I-Series
Despite challenges, there have been key successes. UMD’s general education re-design came at an opportune time as the newly conceived general education framework helped break down silos across the colleges and departments. For students, the re-design meant that there are more opportunities for cross-disciplinary classes outside of their chosen major. Responding to a campus-wide call for proposals for new courses to be developed and included in the new general education curriculum, Melissa achieved the integration of two classes on social entrepreneurship and social innovation in UMD’s new I-Series general education curriculum.
Melissa isn’t the only one. “There are so many new classes across all the disciplines that fit into social entrepreneurship. There has been so much enthusiasm around these themes at UMD – from the ground up. The general education curriculum re-design was the perfect opportunity for faculty to make their commitment to social innovation heard.” In terms of impact, the scaling potential of an integrated course on social entrepreneurship into the general education curriculum is a major benefit. General education courses have the potential to reach a large number of students, including many who have never been exposed to social entrepreneurship. Commenting on the integration of social entrepreneurship classes in general education, Melissa says: “It’s a great strategy for other campuses to consider.”
