There were nerves, but there was also collegial laughter and encouragement as six teams came to pitch their ideas for the 2019 Innovation Buffs awards.
The teams represented a cross-section of SRS departments, as well as LASP and CU Libraries employees. What they had in common was a desire to identify a problem and bring forward innovation solutions that could change campus culture, operations or processes.
“Thank you so much to these campus community members who were willing to take the risk, share their ideas and have them judged,” said Kristin Alipit, Innovation Program manager. “They invested time in the process–including proposal development, playshops and more–and you could really feel their commitment to making ˛ĘĂń±¦µä better.”
In front of an audience and a judging panel, ideas including surplus property management, training programs, housing programs and data solutions competed for project funding, department awards of up to $5,000 and participant awards ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 per person.
While the event had great energy, humor and some great ideas, only one will emerge with project funding. However, the cohort of proposal teams also walked away with new skills to propose, refine and test ideas that will be useful in their day-to-day work.
“Our proposals may be competing with each other,” said Kathryn Tisdale, strategic initiative project manager in Finance and Business Strategy, “but we’re all emerging from the program with new collaborative opportunities, and new skills to put those opportunities to good use.”
The announcement of the winning proposal is expected in early November.