Generating Ideas for Lehigh's Future

"Help us think of big ideas, ambitious ideas for Lehigh."

That was Provost Pat Farrell's directive to staff and faculty in leading a series of World Café-style campus gatherings this past spring—small group discussions in which participants brainstormed ideas around new directions Lehigh should consider taking. University leaders plan to "test" the ideas with potential donors and alumni in the months to come.

"We want to make sure we're making really sound investments," said Farrell. Though the university will have to choose carefully, he said, "it's important to actually try, and I think we will, to implement some of these big ideas."

The World Cafés followed President John Simon's announcement on Founder's Day 2015 that the board of trustees would invest $250 million in Lehigh's future. Among initiatives, the funds will be used to deepen the university's commitment to the hallmarks of a Lehigh education.

"Here's a chance for people who haven't had an opportunity … to be part of the conversation," said Farrell. Undoubtedly, he said, people will have ideas that Lehigh's decision-makers wouldn't think of on their own. "So the very practical result is, we're going to get better ideas."

The World Café process, developed 20 years ago in California, allows people to talk with one another, not at one another, said facilitator George White, professor of educational leadership at Lehigh. He likened it to gatherings in European cafés, where people sit around tables and have conversations about critical topics.

Participants were asked to identify "big ideas" that could be done within Lehigh's existing footprint and could impact the quality of students' education and/or the university's research reputation. Then, they were asked to identify "big ideas" outside Lehigh's existing structures that, if invested in, would enhance Lehigh's reputation and make a major difference in the world.

Rules were few: no negative or "but" statements. "We say, 'yes and ...,'" said White. "We add and grow, and so the process of these questions becomes iterative and allows for growth of an idea." As a result, "one idea is no longer my idea or someone else's idea, it's our idea that's popped out at the table."

Ideas ran the gamut, but community health care, engagement with the Mountaintop initiative, and ways to physically connect the Asa Packer and Mountaintop campuses were recurring themes.

"We're still not going to be able to do everything we could imagine," said Farrell. "But we're going to be able to do some really big things."

Story by Stephanie Veto and Mary Ellen Alu