About “Community Innovations”

“Community Innovations” is a course where students and faculty from across the disciplines partner with local organizations to respond to complex social, economic, health, and education issues. Working in cross-disciplinary teams, students conduct primary research (such as interviewing key stakeholders) to better understand their chosen problem.Using a variety of methods, student teams prototype possible solutions and share those prototypes with their sponsors and others. Based on feedback they receive, the students build on those prototypes to develop a final project for their clients which represents a detailed and considered response to the complex problem under consideration. Teams present their plans (which can take a variety of forms) and the associated research to their problem sponsors at the end of the semester. This course is co-sponsored by JMU X-Labs and the Leslie Flanary Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship.