President Encourages Faculty to Infuse Innovation Throughout CSUN

  • Dianne F. Harrison

    CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison encouraged faculty to “infuse innovation” at annual Faculty Retreat. Photo by David J. Hawkins.

  • Adam Swenson

    Faculty Senate President Adam Swenson welcomed more than 200 faculty to"Rediscovering CSUN." Photo by David J. Hawkins.

  • Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Yi Li offered remarks on “My Discovery of CSUN.” Photo by Ruth Saravia.

  • Faculty listen

    The retreat included a variety of panels and presentations including “Re-discovering Service Learning: Breaking Down Myths and Presenting Opportunities to Engage Students in Our Community” and “Discovering CSUN Wellness through the Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing.” Photo by Ruth Saravia.

  • Faculty

    Faculty closed out the two-day retreat with,“The Amazing CSUN eScavenger Hunt.” Photo by Ruth Saravia.

Recognizing the “incredible” innovative work already taking place at California State University, Northridge, President Dianne F. Harrison encouraged faculty to rediscover efforts already underway on campus and develop new innovations.

“The good news is that CSUN is already doing incredibly innovative work,” said Harrison during her keynote address at CSUN’s annual Faculty Retreat on January 19. She highlighted a range of programs, including the Art of Innovation Conference, BUILD PODER, the GE Paths Program, CSUN AppJam, the Help Make CSUN Shine Bright Program, LACI@CSUN and the Institute for Sustainability.

Harrison, who titled her speech “Infusing Innovation Throughout CSUN,” said CSUN has a strong foundation of research, scholarship and expertise, “thanks to an outstanding and talented faculty and staff, a well-known commitment to student success and strong connections with the community.”

“It is just a matter of harnessing and directing this energy in productive and targeted ways — and finding creative ways to encourage more innovation and creativity among students, faculty and staff,” Harrison said. “Just as challenging, how do we scale up and permeate our entire student body and curriculum? We must offer these opportunities to every single one of our students.”

About 200 faculty attended the two-day retreat themed “Rediscovering CSUN.” The event was opened with a welcome from Faculty Senate President Adam Swenson and event co-chairs Anne Eipe and Christina Mayberry.

“People here are really committed to collaboration and working hard to make things better,” said Swenson during his remarks. “Innovation really does run deep here.”

The retreat included a variety of panels and presentations, from “Re-discovering Service Learning: Breaking Down Myths and Presenting Opportunities to Engage Students in Our Community” and “Discovering CSUN Wellness through the Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing” to “Higher Education and the Labor Market: CSUN as a Case Study.” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Yi Li offered remarks on “My Discovery of CSUN.”

The event ended with “The Amazing CSUN eScavenger Hunt.”

Li said he has been impressed by the campus’ embrace of the president’s seven priorities and the collaborative spirit. His goals include a commitment to faculty diversity, student success and increasing research activity.