The petition
"We support Bill Foulkes and the Center for Design and Business to continue to promote Entrepreneurial Education at Rhode Island School of Design."
*What happened?
On February 6th, the RISD President's office sent out an email announcing a new Administrative division, Media + Partners,
which effectively replaces the Center for Design and Business (CDB) and terminates the employment of Bill Foulkes at RISD.
As opposed to the CDB, which aims to be an open resource that fosters entrepreneurial culture and education resources under the Academic Affairs at RISD, the new department, Media + Partners, will mainly focus on RISD's external relationship with outer business corporations as an administrative division.
We believe that closing the CDB and dismissing Bill Foulkes position eliminates a critical resource for student development and limits the core capabilities of RISD as a leading design institution.
** What is the CDB? Who is Bill Foulkes?
The CDB (http://www.CenterDesignBusiness.org/) is a 10-year-old division within RISD whose main objective is to build
collaborative research partnerships between the RISD community and the industry. These collaborations consist of In-Classroom Sponsored Studios, Commercial Partnerships, Custom projects, Long-term Research, Thought Leadership, and
Resident/Member Programs. Coming from a strong business background, Bill Foulkes (the Executive Director of the CDB) has been an irreplaceable resource for RISD students interested in applying 'Design Thinking' in a business context. He has always been passionate about helping students of all disciplines who would like to develop their raw design ideas into a solid business plan. During this past Wintersession '08, Bill engaged more deeply in student development by teaching the 'Design & Entrepreneurial Thinking' course, where he demonstrated being an extraordinary teacher and thoughtful mentor. Indeed, Bill Foulkes is one of the few people today that truly understands the relationship between design and business, and delivers an integrated approach to the RISD learning environment.
*** How critical is the CDB and Bill Foulkes to RISD?
In terms of student development, the CDB led by Bill Foulkes plays two critical roles at RISD.
- A Forum for Entrepreneurial Education: The CDB is a critical place at RISD that fulfills students' educational needs for Entrepreneurial learning. By offering classes, lectures, forums, and public events, the CDB encourages cross-disciplinary
dialogues on the growing relationship between design and business. Through these learning opportunities, students are
provided with hands-on knowledge to reach out to the business world. More importantly, students gain confidence as
designers by recognizing their increasing value in today's business world.
- An Incubator for Design Entrepreneurs: The Resident/Member program at the CDB functions as a Design Incubator Program - a program that harnesses Entrepreneurial spirit and creates opportunities for students to develop their raw design ideas into a reality. Although RISD offers a tour-de-force environment for design education and is full of ambitious artistic entrepreneurs, RISD students often run into difficulties capturing entrepreneurial opportunities for their ideas. The CDB provides
a means to support these ideas based on their potential merits and sponsors ambitious students with start-up support through
business mentorship, networks of expertise, and other physical resources (e.g. office space).
Shutting down the CDB and terminating Bill Foulkes' directorship means the immediate loss of these invaluable resources for student development. Since Bill's appointment as the Executive Director, the CDB has only just started to gain momentum for increasing the value of student development, as well as industry relations. Most students have not yet had the chance to learn and utilize these resources available to them at the CDB; and after the closure, they may never the chance. Without internal efforts to promote Entrepreneurial education such as the ones provided by the CDB, any corporate relationships developed through Media + Partners will be obsolete for student development. The CDB and Bill Foulkes are vital resources at RISD in disseminating Entrepreneurial knowledge and spirit, translating the RISD students' artistic potential
into Entrepreneurial potential.
In the long run, RISD will lose its leadership in design education by stepping backwards in Entrepreneurial
learning. There are already a number of other design institutions which have recognized the growing value of Design Thinking
in the business world and started to promote Entrepreneurial education in their curriculums: Pratt's Design Incubator for
Sustainable Innovation, California College of the Arts' Design MBA, and Parsons' Design Management Program. As a constantly
evolving institution, it is critical that RISD continues its educational leadership by strengthening the capabilities of the Center for Design and Business, rather than terminating it.
The chief purpose of this petition is to express an honest concern that there will no longer be a place at RISD for students to learn about bridging the gap between design and business. This petition also aims to serve as a starting point for future
possibilities to meet the needs of design and entrepreneurial student development at RISD.
*****What YOU can do,
1. Sign the petition to show your support
2. Share your concern with the Provost Jay Coogan (jcoogan@risd.edu), the President Roger Mandle (rmandle@risd.edu) and John Maeda (maeda@risd.edu)
Sign the petition
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