Locating Innovation in Higher Education - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3032158230 ISBN 13: 9783032158239

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026

Synopsis

Higher education institutions are confronting institutional-wide change—having to revamp their models, merge, or even close outright. At this moment there is a need to think, not just at the 50,000-foot level or deep in the weeds of assessment, but programmatically about the student experience. This volume highlights several innovations undertaken at institutions prioritizing student learning through progressive and liberal arts approaches to education. At various institutional levels, the authors share their experiences initiating new ideas, evaluating effectiveness, changing directions, and incubating novel practices. By exploring these innovations in their unique settings and reflecting on key factors and lessons, this book shares ways educators can locate opportunities for innovation in their own institutions.

About this title

About the Author

Noah Coburn is Provost and Vice President for Academics, The Evergreen State College, USA.

Ryan Derby-Talbot is Founding President of Abu Dhabi Experiential College, United Arab Emirates.

From the Back Cover

“This impressive volume offers examples of innovative educational practices, carried out in small colleges and embedded academic programs, that harness the creativity of the entire academic community in response to urgent needs. Each chapter tells a story of how focusing resolutely on students and their potential as thinkers and citizens, can revitalize the entire academic enterprise.”
—Stephen Miles, Former Provost, New College of Florida, USA

“In an era of skepticism about the value of higher education, innovation has been increasingly invoked as a too-easy solution to a host of educational, cultural, and financial woes. This volume reclaims innovation as a serious and collaborative practice, bringing together leaders and practitioners who have been on the front lines of institutional change. Together, these essays chart a compelling vision for what higher education can accomplish when colleges and universities harness their intellectual and creative resources to reimagine and evolve long-held structures and norms on behalf of students.”
—Isabel Roche, Co-Program Director, Endeavor Foundation, New York, NY, USA

Higher education institutions are confronting institutional-wide change—having to revamp their models, merge, or even close outright. At this moment there is a need to think, not just at the 50,000-foot level or deep in the weeds of assessment, but programmatically about the student experience. This volume highlights several innovations undertaken at institutions prioritizing student learning through progressive and liberal arts approaches to education. At various institutional levels, the authors share their experiences initiating new ideas, evaluating effectiveness, changing directions, and incubating novel practices. By exploring these innovations in their unique settings and reflecting on key factors and lessons, this book shares ways educators can locate opportunities for innovation in their own institutions.

Noah Coburn is Provost and Vice President for Academics, The Evergreen State College, USA.

Ryan Derby-Talbot is Founding President of Abu Dhabi Experiential College, United Arab Emirates.

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3032158230
• ISBN 13: 9783032158239
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Coburn Noah, Derby-Talbot Ryan