Higher Education Leaders Gather to Pursue Ambitious Change

The Innovation Sandbox inaugural cohort starts in July

Person at a podium holding a microphone
Noah Pickus is founder of the Future Universities Alliance

The Future Universities Alliance has selected 49 institutions from 23 countries for the inaugural cohort of its Innovation Sandbox, a year-long peer exchange program for higher education leaders pursuing institution-level innovation. The Alliance is a global learning network developed by Duke University early this year.

The cohort brings together founders of new universities, administrators and faculty leading high-stakes changes within established institutions, and leaders of proven models exploring how their innovations can travel to new contexts. Participants were chosen through a competitive process that drew applicants from around the world in its inaugural year.

“Higher education is not short of innovation, but it is short of the structures needed to connect that innovation, help it travel, and make it durable,” said Noah Pickus, founder of the Alliance and head of Global Strategy and Partnerships at Duke. “The Innovation Sandbox is designed to create those structures.”

Beginning in July, participants will engage in monthly facilitated small-group sessions organized around shared innovation themes and structured milestone meetings with executive sponsors. In October, they will participate in the Alliance’s first Global Summit, which will be held on Duke’s campus in Durham, N.C.

For more information, go to Office of the Provost.