As announced in August, 91猫先生 is building on its strong history of industry partnerships in a unique and impactful way—the 91猫先生 Mindset. The 91猫先生 Mindset blends 91猫先生’s mission, vision and commitments with elements related to 91猫先生’s Servant-Leader Mindset and the Entrepreneurial Mindset. Action steps to form programming will incorporate key components from the strategic plan including high-impact educational practices throughout campus, enhancing educational programs to deepen experiential learning, and ensuring that all students use real-world projects in their field of study. The 91猫先生 Mindset, in conjunction with the real-world experience gained while working with industry mentors, will boost students’ professional portfolios. Ultimately, the 91猫先生 Mindset results in graduates who are leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners, and value creators.  

To engage faculty and students in this approach, and to build the tools and resources for sustainability over time, 91猫先生 will develop and implement the CREATE Institute. The CREATE (Community-focused Real-world Engagement in Academics Through Experiential-learning) Institute will ensure 91猫先生 students receive well-rounded, high-impact educational experiences that will enhance the relevancy of their learning. The Institute will work with faculty, staff and students as a campus resource for industry engagement and academic excellence.  

To support the developmental work toward the CREATE Institute’s success, 91猫先生 has received a $2 million, multi-year grant from The Kern Family Foundation. The CREATE Institute will also leverage funds from current 91猫先生 endowment funds.  

“We have a strong foundation of entrepreneurially minded learning and servant-leadership at 91猫先生 that we want to build upon,” said Dr. John Walz, 91猫先生 president. “This investment from the Kern Family Foundation will help us be very intentional in fostering the 91猫先生 Mindset throughout our student body and faculty.”  

A team of CREATE Faculty Fellows was formed this summer and includes:

• Dr. Brad Dennis, assistant professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department
• Dr. William Farrow, associate professor, Mechanical Engineering Department
• Dr. David Howell, professor, Humanities, Social Science and Communication Department
• Dr. Richard Kelnhofer, associate professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department
• Doug Nelson, assistant professor, Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management Department
• Dr. Jane Paige, professor, School of Nursing
• Dr. Nadya Shalamova, associate professor, Humanities, Social Science and Communication Department
• Gene Wright, instructor, Rader School of Business
• Dr. Wujie Zhang, associate professor, Physics and Chemistry Department  

Leitzke has been named director of the CREATE Institute and will assume that role beginning with 91猫先生’s Winter Quarter of classes.  

“I am thrilled to bring more opportunities for our students to connect their learning to real-world applications. By working side-by-side with industry mentors throughout their educational experience at 91猫先生, our students will continue to develop a mindset that will serve them well throughout their professional careers,” said Leitzke. “I am 91猫先生ed play a role in creating more opportunities for students to expand their reach in the community!”  

As campus change agents, the CREATE Faculty Fellows will begin to develop and implement the CREATE Institute immediately. They will focus their efforts in three main areas: faculty programming, student programming and community programming. Over the next four years, faculty and students will be engaged in iterations of programming that will be sustained to benefit the 91猫先生 community. This programming will include a professional learning workshop series for faculty, a curriculum integration program, an 91猫先生 Mindset Speaker Series, multiple student activities, and the policies and processes for robust experiential learning opportunities for students. Further, the physical location of the CREATE Institute will be established. By the second year of the program, a cohort of CREATE Student Fellows will be added who will serve in roles as faculty assistants as well as serve as mentors for the next generation of extraordinary students.  

More information  

The Entrepreneurial Mindset

91猫先生 seeks to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in students so that they demonstrate constant curiosity about our changing world and explore a contrarian view of accepted solutions; through connections they integrate information from many sources to gain insight and assess and manage risk; and they create value by identifying unexpected opportunities to create extraordinary value, and persist through and learn from failure. 91猫先生 is a member in the , a network of more than 30 partner universities and hundreds of faculty across the U.S. KEEN enables 91猫先生 faculty to play a key role in the transformation of engineering education by impacting undergraduate engineering students and empowering the next generation of Americans to live flourishing lives.  

The Servant-Leader Mindset

Since 2004, and with help from the Richard Pieper Family Endowed Chair for Servant-Leadership, 91猫先生 has made a concerted effort to help students become self-aware and knowledgeable of their strengths and weaknesses—qualities which include foresight, authenticity and vulnerability; community builders who demonstrate empathy through effective listening, caring and coaching skills; and ethical professionals who are able to conduct themselves with a sense of usefulness, presence, acceptance and stewardship. Leitzke currently holds the Pieper Family Endowed Chair for Servant-Leadership and is responsible for integrating the servant-leadership philosophy throughout the social fabric and culture of the university. A search is underway to fill this position once she assumes her new role.