Innovation Center: A New Form of Thinking

At Illinois College through Innovative Thought and Entrepreneurship Ideas

Sociology 384
Eric Martinez and Sydney Thomas
Dr. Jan Buhrmann
3 May 2016

Introduction
The implementation of an innovation center at Illinois College is a topic that needs to be
explored further. The IC Strategy Map Innovation Center Working Group needs more
information on the topic before an innovation center can be built for the campus. It is important
to know how the center should run and what students would like to see incorporated into the
center. No previous research has been conducted specifically regarding an innovation center on
the Illinois College campus. Before creating this kind of center, it is necessary to conduct
preliminary research.
Current literature regarding innovation centers or think tanks typically only address the
workplace or entrepreneurial ventures. There is not very little research on how campus
innovation centers can benefit students. Research in this specific area must be conducted, in
order to get a fuller picture. It is important that an innovation center at Illinois College fully
benefits the students. Conducting research that is gathered from the student population will
provide insight into the logistics of running an innovation center and satisfying student needs.
Statement of Issue
Our research addresses the lack of current literature linking the benefit of innovation
centers and college students. By asking students directly what they want, we gained insight into
student perspectives. Our research provides new information on innovation centers and will help
develop the blueprint for a future feature of the Illinois College campus.

Overarching Research Question and Sub Questions

Following the need to gain more insight on introducing an innovation center to Illinois
College, this research posits two overarching questions: 1) would IC students benefit from an
innovation center and 2) what would an innovation center at IC look like or consist of?
The specific sub-questions we developed focused on the level of interest for an
innovation center, how the center will be run, what resources should be incorporated into the
center, and the promotion of the center to students. All of these areas provided further
information on our topic and helped fully developed our overarching questions.
Theoretical Approach
The theoretical approach we utilized for this research is a grounded theory approach.
A grounded theory was used to guide the data analysis during our data collection, which was to
be rooted into the observation and study. The research was conducted while the theory was
developed. This approach was useful because we did not have much knowledge on the topic of
this research initially. From the beginning, our research team had to fully understand the concept
of an innovation center. We did not have any previous information on what students want or what
the center should look like. We predicted that a large majority of the students had little or no
knowledge of an Innovation Center. A grounded theory approach, therefore helped us continually
shape and define the concept and potential benefits of an Innovation Center throughout our
research that has been grounded in the data we collected. We designed this study to introduce
students to the idea of an Innovation Center and to obtain their descriptions and ideas. The

conceptual framework was useful because it reinsured us to gain a larger understanding of the
Innovation Center and the ideas of other students and understanding.
Literature Review
Scarlett (2015) discussed the benefits of accommodation of entrepreneurship into
business related organizations and/or associations. The overall focus of this article has three
sections; advantages, methods, and focuses on entrepreneurship. This study found that attorneys
have a high probability of working with clients who own their own businesses or are selfemployed. Law students who are studying entrepreneurship are able to develop a greater
understanding of legal concepts and are exposed to other outside areas where entrepreneurship
can be applied. This article is useful in understanding which students can benefit from
developing entrepreneurship skills that could potentially be provided by an innovation center. If
students have more knowledge of the benefits of an innovation center and the accompanying
opportunity to develop entrepreneurship skills, they will be more likely to be utilize this type of
center on campus.
Alstete (2014), begins with an analysis of five general strategy types, which 380 potential
entrepreneurial students wrote about in their business plans. His first discovery was a low-cost
provider strategy, which is to lower overall cost of a product which other providers also distribute.
His second strategy is a broad differentiation strategy. This strategy is to differentiate the product
in which a wider audience can see a higher use for it. The third strategy is a focus on low cost. This
means that providers offer a product at a lower price than rival competitors. The fourth strategy is
a focused differentiation strategy. This focuses on a product offering a more specific use and
requirements than a rival product. The final strategy is a best cost provider strategy, this is
defined by a customer getting a better bang for their buck than do other providers. This article

shows relevance towards an innovation center by demonstrating concepts of what this kind of
center could potentially consist of. These strategies give students and faculty an idea upon which
they can potentially build while participating in the center.
Results of a study by Van Ryzin (2009), showed how social entrepreneurs were likely to
be non-white, females, younger, college educated women, who live in large cities. Men are likely
to be business entrepreneurs. Basic background variables, human capital factors, and social
capital factors were used to determine if self-identification is used to be classified as a social
entrepreneur. Basic background variables include sex, race, age, gender and health. Human
capital consists of education and business experience and social capital includes club
involvement and social trust. From the articles analysis, social capital is the strongest predictor
of a social entrepreneur, also human capital plays a high role for the prerequisite for a social
entrepreneur as well.
This report from ASHE Higher Education (2009) describes the growth and the expansion
of entrepreneurship education in the United States. Student entrepreneurship has caught the
attention of many higher education researchers. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to take in favor of
subjects such as science and engineering rather than humanities, social sciences, or education.
The traditional relations of professor and student, as well as mentor and teacher are changing due
to more professors being challenged as the authority figure. From this, students are engaging
more actively in entrepreneurship efforts. Entrepreneurship education has been documented as
the fastest growing academic trends both vertically and horizontally. Vertically, more students
have been engaging in entrepreneurship. Horizontally, more schools have incorporating
entrepreneurship in their system. Entrepreneurship education is an interesting and important
concept which is scholarly acknowledged and it is highly focused on.

McWilliam (1990), argues that innovation and entrepreneurship are well-known concepts
in the education world. Even though the two are important subject matters for educators, the two
concepts are rarely implemented specifically into academic curriculum. From innovation and
entrepreneurship programs, skills like creativity and risk-taking can emerge. Her study was
conducted in order to determine the negative impacts of innovation centers being implemented
into college campuses. There was no evidence of specific negative impacts. Her findings actually
showed positive effects from a college innovation center. Interactive leadership needs to be
implemented, in order to develop and sustain important skills. An innovation center at Illinois
College would encourage creativity and risk-taking as well. In contrast to the research from the
article, our research intends to explore the positive aspects of an innovation center.
Argabright, et al, (2012) focused on the academic journal Extensions attempt to adopt
and utilize innovation. Society is ever-changing and requires a shift in practice. Innovation and
creativity are synonymous, yet distinct from one another. This distinction relies on the idea of
creativity being thought itself, while innovation is the intended purpose or thought put into action
(2012). This study argues that students and young entrepreneurs struggle with regard to
innovation, but not necessarily creativity. Positive leadership, collaboration, and encouragement
are some of the building blocks for creativity and innovation. Even though this article focuses on
a specific organization utilizing innovation, Illinois College can potentially move in the same
direction. An innovation center can attempt to bridge the gap between creativity and innovation
for students. instead of being stuck in the creative phase, students could use the innovation center
to get their ideas on the forefront and take action.
A study by Patrick, et al. (1998) discusses the importance of changing universities into a
specific kind of learning organization. It goes beyond the basic curriculum and expands into five

components that work together: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building a
shared vision, team learning. Their study addresses the need for educational institutions to
incorporate risk-taking, innovation, and collaboration. All in all, these factors promote an
effective and new way of designing the curriculum in order to foster a deeper learning
experience. Faculty is one of the most important aspects of this process, acting as change agents.
Illinois College can potentially transform the kind of learning organization it is. By equipping
faculty and staff with the skills and knowledge of innovation, an innovation center on campus
could foster the previously mentioned five components in our students.
Koerber (2015) notes that Harvard recently opened a new research center on their
campus. This is relevant to our own research, as it is similar to our proposed center of an
entrepreneurship and innovations center. The research center that this university has created is
more focused on the ideas surrounding their library and librarians. The research center would
help a groups of researchers develop research questions and the best methods to find answers for
these questions. Similarly, when students come up with new ideas in our innovations center, this
information will be beneficial to them. Our students can potentially see the need to create
research questions in the beginning stages of their projects. An innovations center on the Illinois
College campus could provide assistance in getting started, as the Harvard Research Center
offers.
As we looked to find current innovations and entrepreneurship centers, we were
introduced to an entrepreneurship center created at Hadley School for the Blind. According to a
report published by the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness in 2012, this center has been
called the Forsythe Center for Entrepreneurship. This is unique because it is at a school for the
visually-impaired. This study focuses on the entrepreneurship ideas that Illinois College may

want to incorporate to our own innovations center. At the Forsythe center, they offer different
classes and opportunities. They offer classes such as business fundamentals, as well as specific
modules, such as Market Research. These business-based courses would help to get the proper
mindset established for each individual as they attempt to develop their own business ideas and
products. This center/ program was designed to address the low employment rates among blind
and visually impaired individuals. With these courses,it seems probable that the students who
take part in this kind of center at IC would be better prepared for future employment.
A third center type that has been on the rise in the past several years is called a proof of
concepts center (Hayter and Link, 2015). In March 2011, President Barack Obama announced
the creation of a Proof of Concept Center (PoCC) program as part of the I6 Green Challenge to
promote clean energy innovation and economic growth (2015:32). With this spark, this may
have been where the idea for a modern innovation center began. This fits along with what we are
exploring at IC. The ideas may not all be geared toward clean energy, but there will still be
several ideas developed from an innovations center. PoCCs support university faculty and
students who typically lack the networks and experience necessary to understand more
fundamental aspects of technology development and entrepreneurship (2015: 33). This could
potentially reflect what an innovations center on the Illinois College campus should strive to
accomplish.
In a 2012 study Kahn and Dempsey argue that, Establishing a center sends a strong
message of the importance of innovation and reflects an explicit innovation mandate (2012:91).
With this in mind, Illinois College might consider that opening an innovations center on campus
would not only boost innovative ideas, but also creative thoughts and opportunities offered for
students. This article also found that while innovation centers are used in many different types of

work, universities were the most common location. 78 percent of the centers were located on
a college/university campus (2012: 93).
Methodology
Our research utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches. Two
surveys were used to gather concise information on current knowledge, perspectives, and
suggestions for the innovation center. The surveys also provide information on demographics of
the survey respondents. One survey was provided to students, while the other was administered
to faculty and staff members. A focus group was also conducted, which provided detailed student
perspectives on the the desirability and potential benefits of an innovation center. Student
surveys allowed us to gather a wide variety of information, while the focus group provided an
indepth group conversation intermingled with student perspectives and insights.
Sampling
The population our research focused on was the students of Illinois College. While the
opinions of staff and faculty members was also important for our research, the students are the
focus of the innovation center. We collected 196 surveys from this method. Faculty surveys were
administered by our research partner, Helen Kuhn. The goal of the second survey was to gain
insight on what faculty and staff at Illinois College already know about an innovation center and
how they envision this kind of center at Illinois College.
Our focus group consisted of eleven students. Postings about the focus group were placed in
the form of a campus announcement, one week prior. The turnout for the focus group was extremely
diverse in grade level, major, and ethnicity, which provided us with a number of insightful opinions
and thoughts.

Data Collection
Our data collection strategy was to gather information from students and faculty at
Illinois College. Our student survey was aimed at reaching out to many different students in
order to acquire a range of demographics reflected in the student body. The student researchers
administered the student surveys. To gain student interest and ensure that enough responses were
gathered, we offered a small incentive in the form of a candy bar, in return for the completed
surveys. We used a folder to store the completed surveys, which were kept in a secure location.
The surveys did not require students to include their names, or reveal their identities in any way.
After a faculty meeting, our research partner asked faculty members to fill out a short
faculty survey. This method provided the least amount of information, due to a lack of responses
from faculty. The last form of data collection we utilized was a focus groups. The focus group
was held in a conference room on campus. Students who participated read and signed consent
forms prior to the focus group conversation being initiated. We (as student researchers)
facilitated the focus group, which utilized a specific set of questions. We gathered a large amount
of insightful data from this method.
Ethical Considerations
Communication was established to ensure that all participating students and faculty had
the right to be informed about, agree to participate, or discontinue participation of our study. For
our student survey, participating students were anonymous. The student focus group did not
provide anonymity, but students were encouraged to be actively engaged. A possible issue which
can occur is if a student did not feel comfortable speaking or revealing to third parties about their
personal experiences and opinions. If this does occur, the student can request to be pulled from
the research all together. The facility who completed the survey, can also request to be removed
9

from the research as well. To protect all research data, the collected information will be located
in a secure location, which only the participating researchers have access to.
Data Analysis
Reporting of Findings
For this research, we conducted student and staff/faculty surveys, as well as a student
focus group. The independent variables for this study were students major, minor, graduation
expectancy, gender, and ethnicity. Dependent variables for this study were knowledge, interest,
location, and benefit. The variables major, minor, gender, ethnicity, knowledge, and location
were designed as nominal level variables. Other variables, such as an interest in, and benefit
from an innovation center were designed as ordinal level variables. Graduation expectancy from
the student survey was designed as an interval level variable.
Analysis of Quantitative Data - Surveys
The first type of analysis performed was univariate analysis on each variable. At the
beginning of the survey, students were asked if they had any previous knowledge of an innovation
center after given the definition. Out of the 196 student respondents, 168 (85.7%) had no
previous knowledge of an innovation center on college campuses (Table 1). Seventy-six percent
of the total respondents indicated that they had a moderate to some degree of interest in an
innovation center. The question asked the student if he or she would benefit from an innovation
center had approximately 144 students (73%) respond as very likely to somewhat likely to be
beneficial to their future career. These responses shows how students would find an innovation
center beneficial. A majority of these students, (approximately 71%) have no previous experiences
similar to an innovation center, while less than 30% indicating having a similar experience. Table

10

2 illustrates that a number of respondents responded as moderately to somewhat interested in a

Innovation Center. This relates to how students support the notion of an Innovation Center, but
may not completely understand the idea, so they answered the question in the most neutral
response possible. Focusing on student's primary major, the abundance of a single category were
Science (25%) and Social Science majors (27%). Another variable which had a large number of
responses in a multiple categories were respondent's ethnicities. Fifty percent defined themselves
as Non-Hispanic White/Caucasian, African American/ Black were 21%, and Hispanic/Latino were
11%. The gender distribution were divided equally at approximately 50% (Table 3).
Table 1: Frequency of current knowledge of innovation center and percentages
Response

Frequency

Percent

Yes

28

14.3

No

168

85.7

Total

196

100.0

Table 2: Interest in innovation center frequency and percentage

Response

Frequency

Percent

Highly interested

25

12.8

Moderately interested

70

35.7

Somewhat interested

79

40.3

No interest

22

11.2

Total

196

100.0

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Table 3: Students ethnicity frequency and percentage

Frequency

Percent

Valid
Percent

African American/Black

41

20.9

21.9

Asian/Pacific Islander

3.6

3.7

Hispanic

22

11.2

11.8

Native American

1.5

1.6

98

50.0

52.4

3.1

3.2

Prefer not to answer

1.0

1.1

Bi/multi racial

4.1

4.3

187

95.4

100.0

4.6

196

100.0

Non-Hispanic
White/Caucasian
Other

Total
Missing
Total

Table 4: Students interest in center and major

Arts and
Humanitie
s
Business
Interest in
highly
the
interested
Center moderatel
y
interested
somewha
t
interested
no
interest
Total

Student's Major
MultiPublic
Interdisci
and
plinary
Social
Science
Studies
Science

Total
Math and
Technolo Undecide
gy
d

25

10

16

23

70

11

11

20

20

12

79

22

25

33

48

53

20

11

196

The second type of analysis was bivariate analysis. An examination of the relationship
between interests in an innovation center vs. students majors, shows a moderate to high

12

relationship with one another with a few outliers. The major with the highest relationship to a
positive interest were business majors (Table 4). They had approximately 23% interest in a
possible innovation center. Another outlier in the data were multi- interdisciplinary studies majors
had the highest distribution in the no interest category than any other disciplines. An interest in
the innovation center was compared to other variables such as graduation gender, ethnicity, and
knowledge. Overall, throughout all variables compared, all variables listed, the relations heavily
landed on moderately and somewhat interested. In relation to knowledge of an innovation center
and previous experiences similar to this kind of center, only 7% responded to yes to both of these,
while 61% responded no to both questions. This illustrates how many students have not been
exposed to experiences similar to what an innovation center brings. When examining the
relationship between the question of potential benefit for students and the interest of an
innovation center, our data indicated that the more interested a student is, the more likely the
student predicted the usefulness of the center (Figure 1). The students who found positive
potential for an Innovation center, were the most interested. The trend of interest to potential
benefit appears high. The more interested a student is, the more likely he or she will support the
center.

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Figure 1: Interest in an Innovation Center vs. students opinion of centers usefulness

The last bivariate analysis examined was past experiences and level of interest. Students
who had similar experiences to an innovation center were more likely to be interested in a
possible innovation center on campus, while students who had no experiences similar to an
innovation center, where generally less likely to be interested an innovation center (Table 5).
Table 5: Students interest in center vs. Previous Experience

Previous Experience
Total

yes
no

highly interested
11
14
25

Interest in the Center

moderately
somewhat
interested
interested
22
19
48
60
70
79

14

no interest
5
17
22

Total
57
139
196

The faculty survey produced only a small number of respondents (N = 10). This was not
an adequate number of respondents to indicate any clear patterns. Responses received, however,
did indicate that a number of faculty members were unsure what an innovation center is, and it
skewed data towards the uncertainty responses.
Qualitative Data Student Focus Group
After analyzing data from the focus group, major themes and patterns became clear. Three
major themes emerged from this data: 1) student benefit, 2) logistics, and 3) advertising. The
major theme of student benefit took up a large portion of the focus group discussion. This theme
not only addressed one of our research questions, but provided us with a significant amount of
helpful information. Under this theme of student benefit, we included networking, group
collaboration, personal growth, graduate school, always having a job, and other skills. The
participants mentioned how all of these aspects would be benefits of, or created through
involvement in an innovation center.
Our second major theme involved the logistics of the innovation center. The participants
discussed specific guidelines and aspects they would like to see incorporated into the center. This
involved the use of constructive criticism, a physical location (possibly in Memorial Gym),
faculty involvement, and the use of current technology. The third major theme is advertising.
In order to make an innovation center successful and beneficial to students, students have to know
about it and become actively involved. The focus group participants stated that offering a
convocation credit, posting flyers, offering free food or gift cards, joining the involvement fair,
partnering with a well-known program or group on campus, or offering extra credit are all ways to
grab students attention and bring them to the innovation center at least once.

15

The focus group provided us with a significant amount of useful information. The
participants shed light on how skills like critical and innovative thinking could be useful in their
future. We learned that most of the participants would not know how to get a new invention or
idea to the public eye, therefore networking and connections to individuals that have these skills is
important to them. In order to jump start a business, the participants believe it is all about
knowing the right people in the right places to help them make the first step.
The discussion over how an innovation center on campus would benefit students was a
major part of the focus group. For the most part, connections and networking is the main potential
benefit. An innovation center could also foster group collaboration, which many participants
believe is an important life skill. More potential benefits include surviving/thriving in graduate
school, taking the first steps, and always having a job due to learned skills. When asked about the
likelihood of IC students utilizing an innovation center, there was a mixed response. Overall, the
participants believed there will be a group of students who flock to the center faithfully, while
others will only check the center out initially.
Direct faculty involvement is key in the organization of the center. The participants urged
that the involved faculty hold specific credentials, and they even proposed the faculty should be
voted in before taking their position in the center. Focus group participants, also noted that they
want faculty from a mixture of disciplines involved in the center. A physical location is another
important factor to the participants. They suggested Memorial Gym to house the innovation
center, because IC plans to renovate it into a student center in the near future. Few of the
participants had previously engaged in some sort of innovation center or think tank. But those
who had, mentioned that their experiences heavily involved group work, networking, and
breaking people out of their norms. Having up-to-date technology in the center is also important

16

to the participants. Lastly, our focus group provided key information on how to advertise the
innovation center to students.
With regard to our focus group participants viewpoints, they were significantly similar to
one another. The participants seemed to agree on virtually every topic and typically built off of
one anothers ideas. In particular, networking and group collaboration was commonly mentioned
throughout the focus group discussion. The participants believed that knowing the right people is
helpful in beginning a business or getting an idea to the forefront. Most of the participants also
discussed how group collaboration will be a major part of the innovation center and that it will
help them in many aspects of their lives.
The only contrasting viewpoint we came across was judgment. While one participant
strongly believed that the center should be a no-judging zone, another participant felt that
judgment will always occur in life, and the best thing one can do is to embrace criticism and
become better as a result. Another commonality involved the physical location of the center.
Participants believed that a physical location is important, and almost everyone agreed the
Memorial Gym would be a good location, since the college is currently renovating the building
for use as a student center.

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Discussion
The data gathered from the focus group and the surveys provided a wide array of
responses to our two main research questions: (1) would students benefit from an innovation center
and (2) what would an innovation center at IC look like or consist of? The first major theme,
student benefit, directly addresses one of our research questions. From the survey data, most
students expressed interest in the center and felt that they would benefit from such an experience.
The focus group consisted of students who were all potentially interested in an innovation center;
each of them felt they could benefit from this kind of center in several ways. While the survey data
did not provide insight into what students want incorporated into such a center, the focus group
data did provide some insight in this area. The participants responses revealed the different
resources they would like to see in the center, as well as suggestions about how the center should
be run. Initially, we believed that there would be an adequate amount of student interest for an
innovation center on campus. We also believed that technology would be an important asset for
students. Much of the data we collected supports our initial ideas. It is extremely important that the
innovation center builds its foundation from student needs and desires. Our data provides us with a
plethora of student requests and ideas that can be included into a successful student innovation
center.
The significance of students understanding of the idea of an innovation center is crucial.
The current ratio of students who have knowledge to an Innovation Center to no knowledge is
significant. Students with little or no knowledge have a direct connection to having little interest
to establishing the center. A general frame that was uncovered was the more knowledgeable a
student is, the more likely he or she will be interested in a topic. Many of the students who found
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interest in the concept of an Innovation Center found potential benefits in it. This is also a direct
relation to each variable. The more knowledge a student has, the more interest he or she has
which leads to the positive opinions of the center. This can ultimately lead to high supportiveness
from the student body to support an Innovation Center at Illinois College.
Revisiting our Theoretical Perspective
The theoretical approach we utilized for this research is a grounded theory approach. Our
data analysis strategy complements our theory, in that the concept of an Innovation Center is not
well understood. The concept of the Innovation Center is a program which helps students
become more elaborate, innovative thinkers, and well-rounded individuals in the job market.
Utilizing a grounded theory approach has helped us continually shape and define the concept of
an Innovation Center throughout our research and allows us to offer suggestions on creating a
new form of Innovation Center that best fits Illinois Colleges community.
Our original research questions were addressed in-depth by the data we collected. The
data collected specifically informed us of how an innovation center would benefit students, and
what the center needs to incorporate in order to thrive on the Illinois College campus. Our other
sub-questions were addressed through our surveys and focus group, as well. From the two
sources of data, we determined the level of interest in an innovation center, how faculty/staff can
play a role, which majors are interested in this kind of center, specific rules within the center, and
a possible physical location for the center.

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Conclusions and Recommendations

We found a number of factors that indicated correlations with different aspects of data,
including es knowledge of an Innovation Center and students interest in a center. In addition,
our data indicated that the more educated the student is on the subject, the more the student will
show interest. The other correlation that our data indicated is the higher the interest, the more
support the Innovation Center will get. Also, the type of major the student had was shown to be
related to their level of interest. Business-related majors had the highest interest, as the aspects of
an Innovation Center directs relates to their field, while Multi- Interdisciplinary Studies had the
least interest.
Limitations of the Study
The most significant limitation to our study was the lack of respondents with regard to
faculty surveys. Our understanding of faculty attitudes and opinions on different aspects of a
potential innovation center (as well as potential contributions by faculty) would have benefited by
obtaining a larger number or respondents.
The student surveys had a small number of limitations. The incentive of a candy bar after
completion of survey attracted a large number of students, as well as students who took the survey
with minimal effort. A few surveys were not fully completed and some included responses which
had no relation to the survey question itself. Also, due to multiple researchers handing out the
surveys, it is possible that students completed the survey more than once to get an additional
incentive. We feel, however, that due to the large number of surveys completed, we feel confident
in generalizing our findings to the larger student population at Illinois College.

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Recommendations
From our data analysis, we can recommend that the Strategy Map Innovations Center
team will be able to utilize findings from this study to better understand and discuss the potential
of an Innovation Center. Our results indicate that students currently have little knowledge of the
overall concept an Innovation Center, but have a strong grasp on the idea and themes this kind of
center would include. The more information given to the general body of students and faculty, the
more potential an Innovation Center can have on campus.
We suggest that the possibility of initiating this kind of center can begin independently, or
in partnership with other programs at Illinois College. These programs could potentially include
the Leadership Program, Career Services, Investment Clubs, and/or the TRIO Program.
Interest in an Innovation center is clearly indicated throughout our student surveys. From
ideas discussed during our focus group, the students showed strong interest in, and provided
interesting ideas for how an innovations center on the IC campus might look. In addition, if
faculty promote the center in partnership with other organizations and programs, we feel that the
larger student body will have a strong enough interest to sustain the center.
Potential Audiences
Potential audience for this research could potentially include Illinois Colleges new club
organizations and other institutions that want to bring new ideas to the table. Student leaders and
other people in upper levels management and administration can aid in this research. Through this
research, we introduced students to the idea of an innovation center on the Illinois College

21

campus observed students reaction to it. Other institutions and individuals can predict a general
idea of the want and need of a possible program similar to an Innovation Center.
Direction for Future Research
Future research that would be beneficial would be to obtain feedback from a larger
number of the IC faculty on this kind of center. This would provide a greater understanding of
faculty attitudes and perceptions, and provide important input on how faculty could potentially
contribute to an established center. Another future research direction would be to conduct similar
research in different institutional settings such as Universities, cities, and graduate schools. Other
possible variables like these can represent different factors from which future research can
benefit.

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KAHN, K., & DEMPSEY, J. L. (2012). AN INVESTIGATION OF CENTERS FOR
INNOVATION. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATION SCIENCE, 4(2) 89-100.
KOERBER, J. (2015). HARVARD LAUNCHES USER RESEARCH CENTER. LIBRARY
JOURNAL, 140(18), 16-18.
McWilliam, Carol. (1990) Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Colleges: An Interpretive
Study of the Piloting of Innovation Centres. The Canadian Journal of Higher
Education. 20(3): 85-102.
Patrick, Sondra K., and James J. Fletcher. (1998) "Faculty developers as change agents:
Transforming colleges and universities into learning organizations.".
Scarlett, A. M. (2015). The Benefits of Integrating Entrepreneurship Into Business
Associations. St. Louis University Law Journal, 59(3), 711-724.
Van Ryzin, Gregg G., et al. (2015) "Portrait Of The Social Entrepreneur: Statistical Evidence
From A US Panel." Voluntas: International Journal Of Voluntary & Nonprofit
Organizations 20.2 (2009): 129-140. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Dec.

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Appendix A
Faculty Survey

1. What department are you involved in at Illinois College?

2. What is entrepreneurship to you?
3. An innovation center is a place where problem solving and innovative thinking will be
established and can be utilized in a student's future career field. Students could come to
the center with their ideas or projects and receive insight from other students. The center
would encourage group collaboration. Would your students be interested in or benefit
from an innovation center on campus, if so why?
4. Would you be willing to participate or engage in an innovation center? If so, in what capacity?

24

Appendix B
Student Survey
1. An innovation center is a place where problem solving and innovative thinking will be
established and can be utilized in a student's future career field. Students could come to
the center with their ideas or projects and receive insight from other students. The center
would encourage group collaboration. Before this survey, did you know what an
innovation center was?
a. Yes
b. No
2. How interested would you be in participating in an innovation center?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Highly interested
Moderately interested
Somewhat interested
Not interested at all

3. Would a physical location (as opposed to an online website) for an innovation center at
Illinois College be important to you?
a.
b.

Yes; ideal location on campus? __________________

No

4. A)Have you participated in similar experiences which incorporated innovative thinking

and/or critical thinking.
a.
b.

Yes
No

B). If so, please indicate the experience(s).

______________________________________________________________________
5. Do you believe you would benefit from an innovation center in your future career?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Extremely likely
Very likely
Somewhat likely
Slightly likely
Not at all

6. What are your major(s) and/or minor(s) _______________

25

________________

7. When do you anticipate graduating? ______________ (Semester and year)

8. I identify my gender as
______________ (Fill in blank)
9. What is your ethnicity?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

African American
Asian/Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Native American
Non-Hispanic White
Other __________
Prefer not to answer

10. Are you involved in any organizations or clubs on campus?

a. yes
b. no
If yes, what are they?
______________________________________________________________________
11. Do you desire insight from current business owners/entrepreneurs?
a. Yes
b. No

26

Appendix C
Student Focus Group Questions
Hello, myself and Eric would like to thank you tonight for joining this discussion tonight. I
would like to apologize in advance for the use of my laptop tonight. Because of the new printing
situation here at IC, this seemed to be the better method. So, tonight we will be having a
conversation about adding an innovation center to our campus. We would just like everyone to
voice their ideas and opinions. We want to know what everyone thinks. Your efforts here tonight
will help us conduct and later analyze our research.
Icebreaker:
1. How did you all find out about the focus group tonight?
2. Does anyone have an idea about what an innovation center actually is?
Briefing:
An innovation center is a place where students, faculty members, and even community members
involved in the business sector can come together and help stimulate ideas. It could serve as a
workshop to develop skills like problem solving, critical thinking, innovative thinking, and
collaboration. These skills could then be used later for graduate skill, employment, or
entrepreneurship.
1. In your future career, do you believe you would use critical thinking, innovative thinking,
or be the go to employee in a company?
a. Why or why not?
2. If you had an idea or some sort of invention that you wanted to introduce to society,
would you know how to go about that?
3. What are some things that you believe would help you jumpstart a business idea?
4. Would you be interested in or benefit from an innovation center here on campus?
a. If so, why?
b. Do you think most IC student would use the innovation center?
5. Would direct faculty involvement in the innovation center be important to you?
6. Is a physical location on or near campus essential for an innovation center here?

27

a. What are some places you have in mind that we could place that type of facility?
7. How would innovative thinking benefit you in your future career or in graduate school?
8. If you have participated in previous experiences similar to a innovation center, can you
tell us about those?
a. Do you feel that those experiences benefited you?
9. What other ways do you think that an innovation center could benefit you?
10. What kind of resources would you like to see in an innovation center (technology, people,
etc) ?
11. Does the idea of an innovation center support the ideas and values of Illinois College to you?
12. What do you think are the best ways to promote the innovation center at IC so that
students will utilize it?

28

Appendix D
Focus Group Notes
How did you find out about the focus group?
Campus announcements (free food and gift cards)
Tables in caine when doing surveys
1. In your future career, do you believe you would use critical thinking, innovative thinking,
or be the go to employee in a company?
a. Yes, Innovative thinking will help business have different perspective, marketing,
career advancement, and look more favorable. Try to focus and share ideas.
2. If you had an idea or some sort of invention that you wanted to introduce to society,
would you know how to go about that?
a. Social media like snapchat, instagram, facebook. Also flyers bussiness cards.Talk
to people they know (networking). Talk to people you already know. Reach
children (younger generation) because they talk a lot. Siblings and family as well.
3. What are some things that you believe would help you jumpstart a business idea?
a. Make sure you know what you are doing and know what you want to accomplish.
Put the amount of effort you need to. Put the work work in it mentally and
physically. Get to people who can help because they can take the first step. Group
work can be difficult to do, because of clashing and risks of ideas being stolen,
but different perspectives can be beneficial. Use YouTube as research.
4. Would you be interested in or benefit from an innovation center here on campus?
a. Start business, start appreciating group projects. It can help the political side of
business. Critical thinking can be increased.
b. Good networking in Midwest and other areas like east and west coast. More
credibility.
c. A ton of connections. One person can have many ideas, but does not know how to
start or what to do. Can get background information.
d. Small sections of 1-on-1 talks to education each other or bounce ideas.
e. Managers can use communication majors for marketing skills.
f. Group collaboration in physical education and get the field rolling again.
g. Know how to be a team player. Learn how to deal with people that dont see eye
to eye. Get out of your comfort zone. Shows how to represent yourself.
h. Get 1-on-1 because not everyone is outspoken. Everyone has ideas.
i. Have a place to go to bounce ideas. Take educational criticism to make ideas more
developed and better.
j. Help people progress, new trend. As an artist, get news out there in an effective
matter. Sponsors.
k. Get word out, get info from higher people in business aspects.
5. Do you think most IC student would use the innovation center?
a. Frequent students will be in and out because of curiosity, but they at least try it
out. There will be also a small diehard group of students who will consistently
go to the center. Upperclassmen be most likely to populate the center and a few
die-hard freshmen. Make sure the center has the right credentials requirements.
Students will be afraid of the criticism that can possibly happen in the center. If
they have the courage, the criticism will benefit them. The center will have a
rough start, but it can thrive.
29

b. There has to be no judgement. No matter what, people do judge, but keep it to

themselves. They have to make sure the students feel comfortable.
6. Would direct faculty involvement in the innovation center be important to you?
a. All people can bring new ideas and things.
b. Mix of disciplines
c. Faculty who wants to be apart of it can be jot down on a list and then voted upon
it.
7. Is a physical location on or near campus essential for an innovation center here?
a. Memorial because IC plans to renovate it to a student center. It sounds good that
an innovation center will be located in a student center.
8. If you have participated in previous experiences similar to a innovation center, can you
tell us about those?
a. Workshops in career services on campus.
b. Imagination center. Broke people out of their norms. Free range to lead. Out on
your own.
c. Chicago scholars in the summer. Networking and small group work, developing
ideas.
d. Clinton global admission in Miami over 1000 students were there to talk about
networking and other things.
e. Business camp in high school. Can be president or other human resources,
scenarios get created and need to fix problems that get judged.
9. What other ways do you think that an innovation center could benefit you?
a. Help survive in grad school
b. Train on taking first steps
c. Help yourself and make comeback when in need to
d. Always have a job.
10. What kind of resources would you like to see in an innovation center (technology, people,
etc) ?
a. Know how to be a people person. Social skills. Having multiple languages can
help be versatile and involved. Better changes in life
b. Make speeches and other types of scenarios.
c. Make it innovative, not forgetting ideas
d. How to protect yourself, not to have ideas stolen. Pitching out your own
connections. Patents, information can be easily getable.
e. Software, workshops, recording studio like the Com. depart had. 3D printing.
11. Wrap up?
a. What is the motive? The need of an innovation center can bring concern to
students.
b. If the center is barebones, it will only attract the small group of diehards
c. Organization is key.
d. How will it be funded?
e. Innovation center will create a well rounded person once graduation comes.
f. A freshmen seminar can be used. It can be based off a major or a mix of them
g. Real life situations can be done (scenarios)
h. Use departments like Com. Department or the physics department for 3D printing.
12. Promote to students

30

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Convo credit for first meeting

Flyers
Free stuff like food and gift cards for incentive
Involvement fair
Partner with leadership program or even S.A.B
Extra credit (simple things)

31

Appendix E
Letter of Informed Consent for Student Survey
26 January 2016
Dear Illinois College student:
We are currently conducting a research project for a course in SO 384 (Data Collection and
Analysis) at Illinois College. Our research project will be exploring the possibility of creating an
Innovation Center here on campus.
We would like your permission to participate in this study by completing a short survey. Your
participation will give us insight on how to create a successful center that will benefit IC
students.
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. At any moment during the survey, if you
feel uncomfortable, or if you no longer wish to participate, you may chose not to continue the
focus group once you have begun and leave the session. This session may be recorded
electronically or manually, solely for research purposes. Your responses in the focus group are
completely confidential. We will not disclose information or report any findings from this study
in such a way that an individual can be identified.
If you have any questions on this research, please contact our faculty, Jan Buhrmann at 217-2453877 or via email at jbuhrman@mail.ic.edu.
If you agree to participate in this focus group, please sign the attached statement and return it to
either Eric or Sydney. Thank you in advance for your participation and willingness to help us
investigate this topic.
Sincerely,
Eric Martinez and Sydney Thomas
Student Researchers,
Illinois College

32

STATEMENT OF INFORMED CONSENT

I give my consent to complete a survey on an Innovation Center for Eric Martinez and Sydney
Thomas, students currently enrolled in the SO 384 (Data Collection and Analysis) course at
Illinois College.
I understand that my participation in this interview is completely voluntary, and also understand
that I may withdraw my consent at any time before, during, or after the interview.
I have read the above and understand it and hereby consent to the procedures set forth.

______________________________________
___________________________________
Signature of Participant

Date

33