Design thinking is a creative, collaborative, and innovative approach to solving problems and improving services by emphasizing human experience over product and profit (Brown, 2019). It can improve higher education by providing a framework that leaders—from department chairs to provosts—can use to address problems; search for solutions; test and refine ideas; support continuous improvement; and launch new programs, processes, and policies. We know this because in fall 2021 the members of our college-level administrative team challenged one another to use the framework for collaborative professional development. This article, the first in a two-part series, describes the context and background where we first applied the framework before defining and explaining the concept of design thinking for higher education settings.
From “Rename and Remain” to “Reframe and Regain”: Reimagining Campus Inclusiveness
In my last article, I highlighted the crucial strategies of “person-first” and “targeted universalism” amid the wave of anti-DEI legislation in higher education. Initially, many of us embraced a “rename
Molly Kerby
July 7, 2025
