OISE's new Office of Innovations & Opportunities engages through community collaborations
April 26, 2012
More than 150 attendees delighted to the sights and sounds of an exuberant launch event celebrating the new Office of Innovations & Opportunities (I&O) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto on April 23. In her speech, Associate Dean, Ruth Childs thanked members of the Education Commons and Continuing Education who joined forces with the I&O Office to coordinate the festivities.
The mission of the new Office of Innovations and Opportunities is to celebrate and expand OISE's commissioned research and consulting, its professional learning offerings, and its technological support for research and teaching. "We are combining the strengths of OISE's Continuing Education and Education Commons and adding support for contract development," explained Ruth Childs. "The I&O Office's approach is to involve the whole OISE community. OISE faculty already do terrific work evaluating educational programs, training educational leaders, and performing research with and for local and international partners. Our hope is to make that work easier—and to connect faculty and students with more opportunities,” she added.
Faculty and students expressed how much this initiative will mean to the OISE community. Anne Lopez explained, “This office signals an institutional effort with connecting with partners outside of OISE, and offers a vehicle to collaborate and create change.” PhD student Bodong Chen from CTL echoed her sentiments, “Education needs innovation and I am hoping to see how students will be involved in this, so I am here to explore."
In the Fall of 2011, Ruth Childs was appointed Associate Dean—Innovations and Opportunities along with Jeanne Watson, Associate Dean—Programs. Faculty, staff, students and community partners are invited to peruse the Innovations Opportunities website to learn more.
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