This workshop will help you acquire design tools and mindsets and expand your capacity to navigate complex challenges in higher education, both inside and outside of the classroom.
It's open to faculty, administrators, and leaders from 4- and 2-year institutions. In attending the workshop, you will be joining a vibrant, global community of innovative educators.
What you can expect
Get the restorative benefits of ‘escaping’ your context for one week, yet leave with tools and plans that are ready to put into practice.
- You will spend 5 days at the d.school, living and breathing design day in and day out, surrounded by like-minded peers and supported by designers and pedagogical innovators. You will go back home refreshed with a new outlook, a powerful toolkit, and actionable steps to continue your learning journey and empower others.
- Daily workshop schedule: Monday will run from 1:00 - 7:00pm, and includes dinner. Tuesday through Thursday will run from 9:00 - 4:00, and we will close at 4:30 on Friday.
Collaborate with a vibrant community of educators and staff in higher education innovating inside and outside of the classroom.
- The program will give you tools to leverage design in reimagining the way you work, whether you teach classes or run programs that work with faculty, staff, and students outside the classroom.
Hit the ground running when you return back to your campus.
- Upon completion of the program, you will leave the workshop with self-paced tools to continue exploring how design might add value to your work. You will also have the tools to lead others through design work. You might apply design to your own teaching, lead your students through design work and/or engage colleagues in applying design in the context of a shared program, project or initiative.
Be ready to continue your design journey with advanced opportunities.
- We are currently experimenting with holding an advanced offering for those who complete this workshop and want to deepen their practice and help shape the future of higher education.
Who should apply
- Higher education faculty (tenure-track, non-tenure track and adjunct/clinical faculty)
Note: Whether you teach physics, design, humanities, engineering; in person, online or use a hybrid model, this program will help you create experiences that unleash the full learning potential of students, leveraging what we know about how people learn. - Higher education administrators/leaders (those who serve students and/or faculty at their schools, including program directors and managers, deans, associate deans, provosts, etc)
- Educators from both 4-year and 2-year post-secondary institutions are welcome
Location
Experience how space is a learning lever; the workshop is held in our intentionally-built space at the d.school:
Hasso Plattner Institute of design (d.school) at Stanford University
550 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
Tuition costs
- $5,000 per person
- Faculty and administrators from schools that have sponsored a cohort in the University Innovation Fellows program in 2020 or later: $4,000 per person
Scholarships
We offer a number of scholarships to Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). Each scholarship brings the registration cost to $1,000 per person. If your school is an MSI and you are applying for a scholarship, please note this in your application. See if your school qualifies here.
Note: The priority deadline to be considered for a scholarship is February 1, 2025. If scholarships are still available after that date, applications will be considered and communicated on a rolling basis.
Alumni testimonials
“The diversity of staff, teachers, colleagues was amazing. I was in a room full of adult learners seeking to expand design thinking for themselves and others…..I came to the d.school knowing that I would learn. I didn’t know that I would become more fully committed to this life process with each day. Most important for me was being surrounded by brilliant designers both in my colleagues and teachers, allowing great conversations and fun. What a gift this was/is.”—Kayt Havens, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin, 2019 TLS participant
“As most engineering professors, I haven’t had much training on how to teach. Moreover, I haven’t had a lot of understanding how students actually learn. I thought everyone learned just like me. I thought I should teach just like I was taught. Wrong! After TLS, I always start with the learners: who they are, what is their prior knowledge. This is a foundation on which I can build a learning experience, using pedagogical levers and other tools introduced at the workshop.”—Ilya Avdeev, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016 TLS participant
Learn more about the TLS experience in this YouTube video.
FAQ
What does the tuition include?
All instructional materials, lunches, and an abundance of coffee/tea and snacks. Plus life-time membership to a vibrant community of like-minded innovators and exclusive access to alumni events and opportunities.
Is this a residential program? Can I stay on Stanford campus?
You are responsible for arranging your own lodging. Upon acceptance we will share a list of options, including one on campus.
Is this program about design thinking or about improving your teaching?
Both! We will learn design by designing learning experiences. We will put design methods and mindsets to use and explore how we might use them to reimagine the learning experiences of our students.
Can I get a detailed curriculum?
In a traditional workshop you may get a full agenda in advance. This is not a traditional workshop. We have crafted an immersive experience for you, and you will get all the information you need at moments intentionally timed to make the most of it. That being said, if you need to know something specific, or if you are wondering if the program is a good fit for you given your interests and experiences, feel free to email leticia@dschool.stanford.edu. The next answer may help with the latter too.
Is this a good fit for me if I already know design thinking?
In past workshops -- both in person and, more recently virtual -- we’ve had educators with previous experience practicing and/or teaching design/design thinking. In all cases they have reported having derived value from their participation. We believe there are several reasons for that. One of those is that, at the d.school, we are always evolving the way we teach design, and this workshop is an opportunity to experience some of our latest models and frameworks. If your experience with design thinking is rooted in the five hexagons process, you may want to read this. Also, designers never stop learning!
Can I apply with other colleagues from my university?
Yes! We see great results and impact when educators from the same institution go through the program together. This is true whether they work on a joint project, or they are from different departments/units (both cases present specific advantages, and one advantage that applies to both is having allies who have a common language and understanding around design).
Is this program only for educators who are teaching students directly? I’m an administrator interested in applying design to my work.
It is for both. In all past programs we’ve had not only educators who teach students in curricular and co-curricular courses, but also leaders and administrators at all levels -- from program managers, directors, department chairs, deans, and even university presidents. Some of them serve and work with students, while others work with faculty and/or other administrators.
Will I receive a certificate?
Upon the close of the program, you will receive a certificate to honor your learning in the program.