The purpose of this initiative is to provide an opportunity for Student Affairs staff and students to ‘loft” one or more great ideas they believe might provide opportunities for the division to pursue. It assumes that our formal planning and budget process, though important in setting annual priorities, may not capture some great ideas which should be pursued on their own merit. In other words, formal processes for eliciting broad-based communication don’t always work.

This initiative is designed to provide an alternative way for individuals at every level to propose innovative ideas to be evaluated in public debate and discussion, and when appropriate, implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible. The scope of the Great Ideas Initiative may range from a new way to simplify a procedural process within the division to a new creative approach to engaging students in their learning.  

 

SUBMIT AN IDEA!

 

The Great Ideas Initiative will work like this:

  1. Once a semester the Assistant Provost/Chief Student Affairs Officer (CSAO) will send an email to Student Affairs staff and student leaders inviting them to “loft” a great idea for his review and response. The innovative idea can be described in one or two sentences.
  2. If it is determined that the idea has potential to have a positive impact on a department, the division, or the student body as a whole, the Assistant Provost -CSAO will appoint a small work group with cross-departmental membership to flesh out the idea for further consideration.
  3. A written proposal will be developed by the work group and submitted to the Assistant Provost-CSAO. It will have the following elements: a.) A brief narrative with describes the idea in terms of its goals and objectives; b.) A statement of the benefit to students as a whole or a specific sub-population; c.) Benchmarks (if any) of peer comparisons that would be helpful in understanding the proposal; d.) A general (non-detailed) projected cost in terms of required money or other resources.
  4. During the Spring Semester, but prior to the beginning of the formal planning process, the Assistant Provost-CSAO will host an open forum to allow staff and students to consider any written proposals that have been submitted by the work groups. The second part of the forum will provide an opportunity for open discussion of any new ideas that individuals are free to express “on the spot”. The goal of the forum will be to hear and clarify staff and student ideas, rather than offering an immediate response or taking immediate action.  
  5. The Assistant Provost-CSAO will carefully review all proposals. Priority will be given to those that require cross-departmental collaboration and are directed at the whole student body. However, proposals that affect only a particular department will also be considered on their own merit. 
  6. The Assistant Provost-CSAO will submit the best ideas to the Student Affairs Council for consideration and action as part of the annual planning and budget process.
  7. Great ideas selected by the Student Affairs Council will be included in the division’s annual priority budget request if they require financial resources.


East Tennessee State University
P. O. Box 70725
Johnson City TN USA 37614-0725
Telephone: 423/439-4210
Fax: 423/439-6454
If you have any questions or inquiries for the Office of Student Affairs, please feel free to send us e-mail at: Lees@ETSU.EDU