The nature of contemporary society is defined by rapid and complex change that encompasses all areas of our life.  Creativity is a key factor for effectively addressing these challenging changes as well as a significant driving force towards knowledge creation.  It is widely held that creativity will be the source that drives the social and economic advancement as we move into the conceptual age.  That is why we have selected “Imagine” as our theme in the Jewell Business and Leadership department for the 2012/2013 academic year.  (View 2012 Department Poster)

Our question to the students this year is “What can you imagine?”  We are asking them to think about a vision for the future and operationalizing this theme by embedding the concept of creativity and imagining in our courses.  We are hosting speakers such as Robert Metcalfe, entrepreneur and inventor on campus this fall.  We are continuing to invite business leaders into our classrooms to explain the changing nature of today’s business world and make it come alive for our students.   And we are placing our students in active engagement with business projects and internships to immerse them in the change we are discussing and pique their creative processes to address the real questions that organizations are confronting.

Our campus is changing too as we add the Pryor Learning Commons to the quad and think about new ways of engaging, creating and changing the organizations that our students are working towards joining in the future.  Come see the changes and imagine the future with us.  It is an exciting time on the hill!

Dr. Kelli J. Schutte, Chair of The Department of Business and Leadership