Page 34 - Campus Technology, April/May 2017

C-Level View
An Open Invitation to Innovation
Lone Star College-University Park’s chief strategist for innovation and research explains how her institution puts innovation into practice.
By Mary Grush
Lone Star College-University Park (TX) has innovation in its DNA. It’s the newest of seven community colleges that make up the Lone Star College system, and has
a clearly articulated plan to be a leader in innovation. Here, CT speaks with Christina Robinson, the college’s chief strategist for innovation and research.
Campus Technology: Lone Star College- University Park was founded in 2012 with an “Invitation 2 Innovate” (i2i).
Why is innovation important to your institution, and how did the focus on i2i come about?
Christina Robinson: The founding of Lone Star College-University Park as an accredited institution was indeed in 2012,
but its mission actually came into being back in 2009, with a vision to remake a large office complex that had once been Compaq Computer Corporation’s world headquarters into a new college.
Our planners envisioned a new type of college, built on their “Mall of America for education and careers” concept: a single place where students can get any type or level of education they need.
Our chancellor at the time obtained the massive, 1.2 million-square-foot University Park facility (eight buildings), promising the
greater north Houston community we serve that we would reimagine the focus of Lone Star College based on innovation, starting with this new University Park location.
CT: How was i2i put into practice at your institution?
Robinson: We wanted the University Park college to be a model for the 21st century. So, we planned for affordable access to quality education and focused on industry partnerships, on encouraging
entrepreneurship and on building community. All of these things together shaped the culture of innovation we have today. Innovation truly is in our DNA.
The innovations originally envisioned
by our planners and partners are in place today at Lone Star College-University Park, and the college continues to build on its
i2i foundation. Through partnerships with universities and the community, the college offers unique and diverse programs, from an early learning academy — starting with preschool — to an on-site high school,
to advanced degree programs all the
way through the doctoral level. Working
in partnership with our local industries,
we have a corporate college onsite that provides customized workforce programs. Bold programs such as these carry the
34 CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | April/May 2017
“Our planners envisioned a new type of college, built on their ‘Mall of America for education and careers’ concept: a single place where students can get any type or level of education they need.”