{"id":1621,"date":"2019-01-27T23:37:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T23:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2021-08-27T18:19:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T18:19:25","slug":"ci-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/ci-director\/","title":{"rendered":"C+I Director"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/CI-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/CI.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/CI-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/CI-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Following my stint as the CLAHS <a href=\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/associate-dean\/\">interim associate dean<\/a> for research and graduate studies, a limited-term role replacing a colleague on a research leave, starting January 2019 I was given an opportunity to lead the <a href=\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/destination-areas\/\">Creativity+Innovation<\/a> community, one of Virginia Tech&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/destination-areas\/\">Destination Areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its brief, barely 3-year history, C+I has undergone a number of transformations, and has attained several important milestones. It has a new Pathways Minor in Innovation. Another in the works in the area of Creative Technologies + Experiences (CT+E). We are exploring partnerships with the Honors College on a Laureate Diploma. The community was given space in the historical Media Building and we have identified other potential collaborative spaces that may be at our disposal. Being a part of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (<a href=\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/icat\/\">ICAT<\/a>) and its mission, with over 70 projects C+I also offers one of the largest research portfolios among all Virginia Tech DAs. The C+I already has 9 hires and faculty have already begun teaching key courses and develop new initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although I have been <a href=\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/destination-areas\/\">involved<\/a> in the C+I&#8217;s development since its inception, this is the first time I have been given an opportunity to lead it. As I continue working with colleagues and C+I stakeholders towards making this critical transdisciplinary initiative a success, I will periodically add notable milestones to this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast-forward to the August of 2021. Since I stepped into this role, C+I has hit a number of critical milestones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Launched Innovation interdisciplinary Pathways minor, first such minor among all the Destination Areas<\/li><li>Launched Creativity + Innovation Honors Diploma, first such diploma among the Destination Areas, and second at the Virginia Tech campus<\/li><li>We are in the final stages of launching Design Tech, C+I&#8217;s second Pathways minor<\/li><li>Integrated the Human-Centered Design (<a href=\"http:\/\/hcd.icat.vt.edu\">HCD<\/a>) interdisciplinary individualized PhD program, a part of the Virginia Tech Graduate School&#8217;s IGEP initiative<\/li><li>C+I has been completely restructured to include a group of 16 faculty co-leads and 5 co-advisors, with roles distributed across 5 working groups:<ul><li>Diversity+Inclusion+Equity (first such working group as part of a Destination Area)<\/li><li>Education (focusing on curricular development)<\/li><li>Engagement (that seeks to promote student engagement and outreach)<\/li><li>Experience+ (a group of faculty and students focusing on real-world research opportunities)<\/li><li>Infrastructure (a working group that seeks to develop and optimally utilize interdisciplinary spaces)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>C+I was granted the use of the historic Media Building and we were able to secure ~$500,000 towards its renovation to ensure compliance and support necessary upgrades to promote better use of the available space<\/li><li>Established periodic newsletter and online social media presence via Facebook and Twitter<\/li><li>Revamped the C+I <a href=\"http:\/\/ci.icat.vt.edu\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"http:\/\/ci.icat.vt.edu\">website<\/a><\/li><li>Introduced first-of-a-kind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.provost.vt.edu\/destination_areas\/areas_of_focus\/da_ci\/curriculum\/partnership-courses\/2021-courses.html\">Transdisciplinary Summer Curriculum<\/a> initiative with a shared revenue model designed to promote its sustainability while providing resources for both the stakeholder units and the C+I<\/li><li>Funded a creation of new transdisciplinary courses through a series of SEAD grants that were co-funded in collaboration with Virginia Tech <a href=\"http:\/\/icat.vt.edu\">ICAT<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/liberalarts.vt.edu\/research-centers\/center-for-humanities.html\">Center for Humanities<\/a><\/li><li>Sought shared faculty positions through a newfound grassroots shared revenue model<\/li><li>Supported a number of events, workshops, symposia, and the annual ICAT-organized Creativity+Innovation Day that brought all the Destination Areas together<\/li><li>Introduced the Immersive Audio research working group, first such working group that connected faculty across the entire campus with the common interest in immersive audio<\/li><li>Grew the community to 130+ faculty<\/li><li>In the fall 2020 C+I launched the new theme &#8220;The Year of Student Creativity + Innovation&#8221;, attracting over 50+ students despite being confined to online-only instruction and community-building due to the COVID-19 pandemic<\/li><li>Spawned partnerships with the <a href=\"https:\/\/liberalarts.vt.edu\/news\/articles\/2020\/07\/student-majoring-in-creative-technologies-in-music-develops-soft.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/liberalarts.vt.edu\/news\/articles\/2020\/07\/student-majoring-in-creative-technologies-in-music-develops-soft.html\">industry<\/a> and began building the external donor network<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back, I am amazed at just how far we have come. In less than three years with limited resources, we have grown from an aspirational community to a transdisciplinary curricular powerhouse. Yet, with the COVID-19 pandemic still in full swing, the world has changed in unforeseen and dramatic ways. Our University&#8217;s leadership has also seen a significant turnover and with it the shift in University&#8217;s priorities. Regardless what the future brings, I am proud of transdisciplinary foundations C+I has established, milestones that have irreversibly transformed the university and the way we approach inter- and transdisciplinary education. Most importantly, I am thankful for all the moments I have shared with my fellow transdisciplinarians without whom none of this would&#8217;ve been possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following my stint as the CLAHS interim associate dean for research and graduate studies, a limited-term role replacing a colleague on a research leave, starting January 2019 I was given an opportunity to lead the Creativity+Innovation community, one of Virginia Tech&#8217;s Destination Areas. In its brief, barely 3-year history, C+I has undergone a number of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,3],"tags":[495,514,466,496,417,515,415,497,451,56,499,516,498,307],"class_list":["post-1621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administration","category-portfolio","tag-495","tag-beyond-boundaries","tag-ci","tag-creativityinnvoation","tag-cte","tag-design-tech","tag-destination-areas","tag-director","tag-engagement","tag-icat","tag-infrastructure","tag-milestones","tag-pathways-minor","tag-virginia-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1621"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2284,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions\/2284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}