The innovation imperative
Provost’s academic address 2010

March 12, 2010

Innovation is more than just ‘aha’ moments. It is a process that needs to be part of “every job and every relationship” at the University of Saskatchewan.

That was the message delivered March 9 by Provost and Vice-President Academic Brett Fairbairn in his annual academic agenda address entitled Innovation within the Academy: Why and How.  Speaking to an audience in Convocation Hall, Fairbairn began by admitting he considered an innovative delivery, like interpretive dance, for a speech about innovation but settled on a more conventional presentation that began with him discussing why innovation can sometimes make people uncomfortable.

Innovation can be a buzzword, he said, “and it’s never a bad idea to be skeptical of buzzwords.” Another is that universities have traditionally been more concerned with preserving and transmitting knowledge than with knowledge creation. Talk of innovation “is to suggest, at some level, that what we are doing today or what we did yesterday is not good enough … (but) we cannot preserve and transmit without innovation.”

Farbairn went on to say innovation evokes initial thoughts of research, scholarly and artistic work but innovative processes should also affect teaching and learning, governance, administration, financial systems and even facilities. “It may not quite be true that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’,” but what appears innovative may actually be new combinations of what existed before, making diversity and interdisciplinarity important components of innovation.

On the question of what fosters innovation, Fairbairn identified creativity, interconnectedness within the institution, influences outside the academy and risk-taking as all contributing to “creating a culture of innovation at the University of Saskatchewan.” It is a culture, he said, that has already resulted in some remarkable examples at the U of S, including advances in aboriginal engagement that formally began with the Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP) and the Department of Native Studies, both established in the 1970s.

The path from a particle accelerator to the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, the success of the Crop Development Centre over its 39-year history and the growth in interdisciplinary graduate education through the establishment of three graduate schools were other examples he cited.

“I have said we don’t innovate for its own sake but rather to meet needs and solve problems,” said Fairbairn. Economics often create need so “the particular innovations we undertake when resources are short …shape what kind of institution we become. Some moments are particularly important for the path they set us on. This university is in one of those moments.”

The university needs innovation within existing programs and services more than innovation that is simply “added on.” This requires recognizing what Fairbairn called the collective goals that are embodied in the university’s strategic directions and integrated plans. They include increasing aboriginal engagement, recruitment and retention of students, research success, creating financial management systems that are both more transparent and more supportive of innovation, and sustainability.

Fairbairn concluded by saying that to serve the public interest “requires both that we innovate and that we be societal leaders in innovation” which is never complete “until it has become a social process and has been put into practice.” Sharing ideas “horizontally” within the organization, supporting risk-takers and remaining focused on common goals are the cornerstones of innovation, and “to be creative, and to promote a culture of innovation, are responsibilities for everyone at the University of Saskatchewan.”