Dear Center for Academic Innovation Community,
Winter term features many opportunities to connect with colleagues across the higher education sector, share what we have learned, and learn about how we can advance our mission. Recently, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at a number of conferences and summits focused on higher education, artificial intelligence, and academic innovation. The conversations were inspiring and clarifying.
It is clear that innovation doesn’t scale on invention or inspiration alone. It scales on trust, infrastructure, and the courage to collaborate beyond traditional boundaries. If we are serious about transformation, we have to stop thinking about innovation as a one-time idea and start treating it as a system that is worthy of investment and support.
Innovation is a load-bearing support of institutional success, combining invention, implementation, integration, and sustainability. It becomes real when it becomes part of how we work, how we teach, and how we learn. Most of all, we need to build systems where difference and not duplication drive our best work.
To realize Michigan’s full potential in lifelong learning, workforce development, and AI-integrated education, we need both invention and innovation. We need creativity and coordination. This is not just about creating more—it’s about scaling what works, aligning it with mission and sustainability, and building the infrastructure to support long-term impact.
The past weeks at the center have shown what this looks like in action. We recently hosted a special online course for the Alumni Association of U-M featuring Ram Mahlingham on mindfulness and dignity. We launched an open online course geared toward healthcare professionals, which features a simulated ascent of Mount Everest courtesy of our XR stage to teach learners about leadership and decision-making under stress. We also hosted a Showcase for student fellows in our Fellowship program.
At the most recent Student Fellow Showcase, the next generation of innovators brought incredible energy, curiosity, and purpose to their projects, which spanned online learning, accessibility, extended reality, learning experience design, AI-enhanced tools, and much more.
Whether designing features that make courses more inclusive, building AI tools that personalize the learning journey, or evaluating how learning data can drive better decisions, these students are doing work that matters now—and will matter even more in the years to come. They aren’t just preparing for the world—they’re helping shape it.
What stands out most is how their growth is grounded in mentorship, collaboration, and hands-on impact. It’s a model for how we can all nurture the next generation of educational leaders. We can offer space to experiment, support to grow, and meaningful and urgent problems. This is the infrastructure of innovation in action.
We know the challenges ahead in education are big. But our capability to address those challenges is even bigger. Whether you’re a student, a faculty partner, an instructional designer, or someone cheering from the sidelines, I invite you to keep building with us. Let’s design and implement the infrastructure that supports curiosity, fuels innovation, and turns ideas into action.
Let’s work together to shape what’s next.
Go blue!
James DeVaney
Special Advisor to the President
Founding Executive Director of the Center for Academic Innovation
Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation