Academic Innovation

Innovation at Bates is a spirit suffused throughout our campus that animates academic exploration and discovery.

The Bates Campaign seeks to establish an Academic Innovation Fund to support a range of initiatives including revitalizing spring Short Term to allow students and faculty chances to design and redesign regular courses, engage with the community and with on-the-ground practitioners, and participate in off-campus study. We will pursue the funding of visiting artists to be in residence at Bates, offering broad perspectives and connecting Bates to centers of artistic enterprise near and far. This fund will also be used to ensure that every department has the resources it needs to support the thesis experience, as well as for the creation of a Bates Multidisciplinary Institute for the comprehensive study of complex issues. Finally, the Academic Innovation Fund will reaffirm Bates’ longstanding commitment to community-engaged learning, research, and practice.