The document discusses how to drive integration, innovation, and enhance the student experience at learning commons. It recommends running the learning commons like a startup by constantly engaging stakeholders, setting joint goals, and building only minimum viable pilots to test assumptions. A success story details how building a presentation skills program integrated with courses and allowed testing outcomes through over 550 student services. The key is to tell stakeholders purposefully, prove wants through measurement, and use technology and collaboration together for greater impact.

1. Integration at the Learning Commons:
How to Drive Innovation & Enhance the Student Experience
Alex Monegro,
Sauder School of Business,
University of British Columbia

2. Career Centre
The dream: Program Offices
an integrated
learning Faculty Members
experience
Student Organizations
Learning Commons

3. Reality
Program Offices
Career Centre
Learning Commons Faculty Members
Student Organizations

4. Run your
Constantly
learning
engage your
Our organization commons
stakeholders Technology
and context like a startup
Integration and innovation

8. 46,000

9. 3,300

10. 1
year 3
months

13. Integration and innovation

14. Identify
stakeholders
Spread the
word
Run your
Constantly
learning
engage your
commons
stakeholders
Set joint like a startup
goals
Integration and innovation

15. Career Centre
 What are the potential
roadblocks? Program Offices
 Who are my potential
champions? Faculty Members
 What is my value
proposition? Student Organizations
 How can they help me?
 How can I improve UBC Partners
communication flow?
External Partners

16. Faculty Members
 What are the potential roadblocks?
 Lack awareness; Think it’s more work; Disagree with methods
 Who are my champions?
 Professors with teaching awards; Reputation for using tech
 What is my value proposition to them?
 Can free up class time; Increase quality of work from students
 How can they help me?
 Drive usage to my services
 How can I improve communication flow?
 Attend division meetings; Engage during class prep; Email newsletter

17. Joint goals • Target university wide program goals
increase • Find common ground with specific
efforts each partner is undertaking
motivation
Clearly outlined
expectations • Specifically outline each party’s
responsibilities
maintain • Clarify expectations for outcomes
accountability

18. When it didn’t work
Setting up our Digital Media Lab
 Lab did not meet university wide
privacy policies
 Different expectations for, “it’s
ready”

19. Success story
Joint meetings with Career Centre, Program Offices, Reference
Librarians, and Learning Commons Student Development
 Better integration in LMS
 Increase awareness of our services
 Natural experiment for measuring
impact of programming

20. Only build what
Run your
Constantly
engage your
learning
commons
you know
stakeholders
like a startup someone
wants
Integration and innovation

21. A startup is a human institution designed to
deliver a new product or service under
conditions of extreme uncertainty.
-Eric Reis, author of Lean Startup

22. Steven Blank’s
Customer Development Model
Outline your Test your Drive Codify
assumptions assumptions program use processes
Customer Customer Customer Customer
Discovery Validation Creation Building

23. Minimum
• Tied to specific class or program
Viable • Must allow testing of assumptions
Pilot
Outline your Test your
assumptions assumptions
Customer Customer
Discovery Validation

24. Minimum
Viable
Lets you measure
• Tied to specific class or program
• Must allow testing outcomes
learning of assumptions
Pilot
Outline your Test your
assumptions assumptions
Customer Customer
Discovery Validation

25. Drive
program use
Customer
Creation

26. Codify
processes
Customer
Building

27. Minimum
Viable Pilot
Outline your Test your
assumptions assumptions
 Students want to ‘buy’ workshops from us
 Workshops should be tied to specific
courses/assignments

28. Minimum
Viable Pilot
Outline your Test your
assumptions assumptions
 Content should be Sauder/program specific
 Content should be more like how-tos

29. Minimum
Viable Pilot
Outline your Test your Drive
assumptions assumptions program use
 Students want more doing in sessions

30. Success story
Building a presentation skills training program
 Integrated with first year Business
Fundamentals course
 Working to support verbal Business
Communications course
 Serviced over 550 students
 Moving to flipped classroom model to
scale

31. Integration and innovation

32. Keep up the good work and please add
more sessions…
-MBA Student

33. INTEGRATION AT THE LEARNING
COMMONS: HOW TO DRIVE
INNOVATION AND ENHANCE THE
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
The hits:
• Tell the world, but do it with purpose
• Build only what you can prove someone wants,
and they will come
• Build, measure, and learn to have a bigger impact
• Technology and collaboration go hand in hand

34. alex.monegro@sauder.ubc.ca
Thank you, @canlearncommons
Questions? learningcommons.sauder.ubc.ca