AUNE’s Center for Academic Innovation Awards Two New Grants

The Center for Academic  Innovation  (CAI) at Antioch University New England (AUNE) has awarded two new Innovation grants:

•$5,000 to Laura Thomas, director of the Antioch Center for School Renewal,  to initiate an Education Technology Integrator certification to position teachers to use technology  in hands-on, constructivist teaching strategies. The new certification will expand AUNE’s status as a leader in the field of progressive education into the field of instructional technology.

•$7,500 to Michael Simpson, chair of AUNE’s Department of Environmental Studies (ES), and Christa Daniels, ES adjunct faculty,  to plan and implement a broad regional conference on adaptation to climate change by communities. The conference, which will be held May 19-21, 2014, in Manchester, New Hampshire, builds on AUNE’s research and training expertise in adaptation and rich network of partner organizations.

Council on Academic Innovation Appointed
The CAI has also convened a Council on Academic Innovation to provide expert advice to the CAI about awarding grants and other aspects of its operations. The members are:

• Dr. Barbara Andrews, program director for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program in the AUNE Department of Applied Psychology.
• David Grant, former president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and now a consultant to schools, foundations, and organizations, and a trustee for three nonprofits.
• Jon Greenberg, a member of the AUNE board of trustees and a journalist, formerly executive editor at New Hampshire Public Radio.
• Eileen Lawrence, cofounder and vice president of sales and marketing for the Alexander Street Press and alumna of AUNE’s Department of Education.
•Gregg Tewksbury, president and CEO of Savings Bank of Walpole.

Since the CAI was launched in March 2012 as an incubator for entrepreneurial projects and ideas, it has awarded a total of $19,300 in Rapid Action grants to five projects. It has awarded a total of $32,500 in 2012-2013 Innovation grant funding to six initiatives. Some of these initiatives include:

• Communicating Science Institute and Certificate Program
• Nature Pre-Schools and Forest Kindergartens  Teacher Professional Development and Training
• Holistic Special Education Teacher Professional Development and Training

Other CAI-supported projects include the Conservation Psychology Institute, which will be offered this June 9;12 at AUNE, and the Translating Research to Inform Policy workshop, which will be presented next at the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences 2013 Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 19.

The CAI welcomes innovation proposals, on a rolling basis, and provides financial, organizational, and consulting support for creative new academic initiatives, including seminars, workshops, and  other new teaching and learning offerings.