UC*IC
UC*IC 2022-23
University of Charleston
Innovation Competition
UC must continue to be a leader in higher education innovation. To do so requires that all of us – faculty, staff, administrators, students, and trustees – embrace and lead change.
First launched in Fall 2018, the University of Charleston Innovation Competition (UC*IC) engages faculty, staff, administrators, students, and trustees in a process of institutional creativity, innovation, and effectiveness.
Call for 2022-23 UC*IC Project Proposals
The UC*IC is specifically designed to help UC accomplish its mission and goals. As outlined in the 2019-22 UC Strategic Plan these include:
Mission: Educate each student for a life of productive work, enlightened living, and community involvement.
Goals: Recruiting and enrollment, retention and student satisfaction, revenue generation. The UC*IC will be focused on driving creativity and innovation in these areas.
Once again, the UC*IC will have two phases. Each phase involves innovation idea submissions and reviews.
Phase One consists of idea generation.
Faculty and staff may submit their ideas for helping UC accomplish its strategic goals. The president and the cabinet will review all submissions. A small set of these ideas deemed to have the greatest potential impact, likely two or three, will be selected for further development in phase two. We anticipate that many other valuable suggestions can be sent directly to unit leads for quick wins, immediate implementation, or further review. Each submission selected for further development or immediate implementation will receive a $500 award.
Phase Two entails further development of the highest potential ideas.
Teams of faculty, staff, and students will be selected to work together on project development. The Innovation Center’s resources will be available to each team. Professional support in areas such as innovation, design thinking, continuous improvement, and project management will be provided. Each team will be facilitated and sponsored by a cabinet member and a trustee. Teams will have six months to explore and, if possible, implement their assigned ideas. Their work will culminate in a final report and/or presentation. Each member will receive a $1,000 stipend for his or her project work.
As conditions permit, a UC*IC Showcase will provide a live or virtual exhibition and celebration of the work of the Phase Two teams.
UC*IC 2022-23 Timeline
| Milestone | Date |
| Phase One Workshop available (design thinking, idea formation & presentation) | September 5, 2022 |
| Phase One submissions due | September 19, 2022 |
| Phase Two projects/teams & immediate implementation ideas announced | October 14, 2022 |
| Phase Two launch meetings (project scope and expectations) | October 17 – 21, 2022 |
| Phase Two critical reviews | January 23 – 27, 2023 |
| UC*IC Showcase | March 17, 2023 |
| Phase Two final project reports due | April 3, 2023 |
Phase One Submission Instructions
All UC faculty and staff are welcome to submit Phase One proposals. You are encouraged to review the Phase One video workshop on design thinking, idea formation, and idea presentation to help you develop and frame your proposal. The video workshop will be available on September 5, 2022.
Phase One proposal entries should include the following information:
- What is the problem you are seeking to address? To which strategic plan goal and, if applicable, priority area does it relate?
- How big or pervasive is the problem? Quantify the problem as best you can.
- What stakeholders are affected by the problem? What stakeholders will benefit from a solution?
- What do you envision as the proposed improvement or solution?
- What resources do you think will be required to address the problem and develop a solution? Who needs to be involved in the process?
Please note:
- Entries should not exceed two pages in length.
- Entries must be emailed by September 19, 2022 to ucic@ucwv.edu.
Questions should be directed to David Ramsburg, Director of Innovation, x4757, davidramsburg@ucwv.edu.
One project was undertaken in 2021-22. The status of the project is described below:
Health Science Certifications and Continuing Education Programs
This program conducted an extensive needs assessment with several regional hospital systems to identify existing and emerging certification and continuing education opportunities in health care fields. The team built on the needs assessment to outline two potential new program offerings for nursing at UC – 1) Certified Nurse Manager and Leader and 2) Certified Medical Surgical Nurse. Opportunities to develop and launch a healthcare ethics course or workshop was also identified.
