The Impact of Innovation

With funding from MetLife Foundation, the League for Innovation in the Community College engaged in a yearlong study in 2009 of the nature of innovation in the community college. Using recipients of the League's Innovation of the Year Award at 19 community colleges during the period from 1999 through 2008 as a data set, the authors used document analysis, focus groups, surveys, and interviews to study the kinds of innovations awarded, the characteristics of a community college culture that support and encourage innovation, and the perspectives of the award winners regarding the impact of innovation and the impact of the award itself on the winners. This article focuses on the findings regarding the professional and personal impact of the innovation and the award on the award-winners, as well as the impact of the innovation and the award on various populations and the institution itself. Findings support that (a) innovations are acknowledged by college leaders as valuable and have changed the behavior of individuals for whom they were created; (b) award recipients were highly satisfied with the recognition they received from the League and from their colleagues, and were motivated to champion the innovation and to create more innovations; and (c) innovations in this study are evidence of highly creative use of resources and effective and efficient implementation practices, including, where warranted, improved student learning.