The Rensselaer Idea Bank is now closed. Thank you to all who submitted an idea! Our strategic planning committees have reviewed the submissions and will reflect on these thoughtful ideas and respond as appropriate in their final reports. We hope to release these final committee reports to the Rensselaer community in early September, with a goal to complete the Rensselaer Forward Plan by December 2023.
Most Recent Ideas
Gender Diversity through equitable access to campus presence, research opportunities and resources
Harvard Business Review (2021) released a statement with findings across the pandemic: "Childcare is not a family issue, it is a business issue." Working parents and particularly women workers need to leave work or reduce hours solely due to lack of childcare and inconsistent care support / lack of back-up care. RPI has done wonderfully in allowing HR to provide pinch-hitter options for back up care, but this system is limited to case-by-case appointments of single days only, which requires approval by a solo HR representative for any care support.
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Ongoing Experimental Opera Space (EOS)/Summer Contemporary Opera Festival
The Experimental Opera Space (EOS) would be a national laboratory for opera creators to ideate, workshop, prototype, rehearse and perform new works at the cutting edge of the arts and technology. EOS fills a needed gap for American opera companies to take risks, experiment, and interact with the latest technology. EOS will encourage its research partners to reimagine the process of creation and performance as research, and will work closely with the Research division of EMPAC as well as the Arts Department as a whole.
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Innovative Ensemble/Lab
Establish a groundbreaking musical ensemble whose work sits at the intersection of the arts, social justice and technology. Mirroring the Research and Performance/Curatorial branches of EMPAC and the interconnected and interdisciplinary nature of the arts at RPI, the work of this ensemble would be to pursue both socially impactful tech research projects born of the artistic process, as well as incubating and creating performances of new works who necessitate and contextualize the new technology.
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