An Innovative Workshop That Solves Meaningful Challanges.
The Plus Challenge is a two day “Design Thinkathon” that organizes interdisciplinary college student teams around solving community problems with design thinking. Over the course of two days students will learn the concepts of design thinking through hands on and highly engaged problem solving that is informed by community organizations.
Community Partner: We are seeking community partners to participate in the Plus Challenge.You will become a member of a team, and help inform a solution by helping your team define the problem and consider potential solutions. You are more than just a “client” telling them what to make, you are a collaborator in this process.At the end of the weekend each group will present a solution. The exact form the solution takes will vary by team and problem, but we hope to see teams end up with some great creative materials, actionable ideas, and potentially prototypes or even functional digital products.
Students Participants: We are seeking talented students to join the Plus Challenge.You become a member of a team, and help with the problem that contributes to the community partner within your group. You will be trained with design thinking skills and collaborate with students from other disciplines in this process. At the end of the weekend each group will present a solution and it will be evaluated by a jury group. Certificates wil be awarded to each member in the team and final winning group will receive cash prizes.
Pamela is co-founding partner of Collabo Creative, a people-centered service design firm, as well as an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design at Indiana University, Herron School of Art and Design, in Indianapolis, IN, where she teaches across both undergraduate and graduate curricula. Her research areas include design facilitation, tools and methods for people-centered design research, and the integration of values into the design process. She has presented and deployed her research both nationally and internationally, has facilitated workshops at design education conferences, events, and universities, as has worked with an array of regional and national clients.
Jerry Adams, Arkansas Research Alliance
Jerry Adams is the President/CEO of the Arkansas Research Alliance. An economic development non-profit modeled on the very successful Georgia Research Alliance. Its primary focus is to leverage university-based job-creating research in Arkansas. Jerry retired from Acxiom Corporation in October, 2007 after 34 years serving a variety of senior leadership roles. Jerry has served as the chair and board members of many Arkansas organizations and businesses including: Accelerate Arkansas, a statewide volunteer group of leaders focused on building a knowledge-based economy in Arkansas,EAST Initiative, a secondary school technology based project learning initiative active in over 200 schools in Arkansas and six other states, and Southern Technology Council, a council of the Southern Growth Policies Board, etc.
Jessica Boyd, Community Venture Foundation
Jessica is the Executive Director of Community Venture Foundation, an orgnization that committed to building the entrepreneurial community in Arkansas. The mission of Community Venture Foundation is to educate, engage, support, and build the entrepreneurial community by increasing the breadth, depth, and quality of free entrepreneurship initiatives.
Jeff D. Standridge, Ed.D., Audience Solutions, Acxiom
Jeff is the Vice President of Audience Solutions at Acxiom. He is a seasoned senior executive with a broad set of strategic and operational leadership skills and experiences. He has extensive experience working internationally in multiple countries across Europe, South America and Asia. He is also a sales & marketing executive and change agent with extensive experience in casting a compelling vision for the future, building consensus for that vision, and then charting the course to achieve it.
Gayle Seymour, PhD., UCA
Dr. Gayle Seymour is the associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at UCA. She is also a founding member and chairwoman of the Conway Alliance for the Arts board. Dr. Seymour has recently just won a Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Award from UCA. She is indeed the core spirit who brings community , art and diversity together in Conway. She has received a many grants that contributed enormously toward public art event, activities and culture in the UCA and public community in general.
Michael Hargis, PhD., UCA
Dr. Hargis is the Dean of Business college from UCA. His research focuses on the context- and person-based factors that influence functional (e.g., innovation, task persistence, goal setting) and dysfunctional (e.g., unethical decision-making) behavior in organizations. His research has been published in journals such as Personnel Psychology, Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Organizational Development Journal, and Human Relations.
Emily English, Arkansas GardenCorps
Emily English is a Program Administrator in the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute's Childhood Obesity Prevention Research Program and serves as the Program Director of Arkansas GardenCorps and as the state lead for the National Farm to School Network. She sits on the board of The Locals, here in Conway, and The People Tree, in North Little Rock. She has a Masters in Public Service from the Clinton School of Public Service and a Masters in Public Health from UAMS
