Innovation Fellowship

Application open until July 1 for 2023-24 Innovation Fellows cohort!

Apply now

The Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership at The Ohio State University College of Nursing is proud to offer its national Innovation Fellowship.

This is a 12-month fellowship where fellows average 3-4 hours of work per month (one-on-one coaching, group coaching and project work) for which they receive 120 hours of CE credit. This fellowship is designed with a two-pronged mission that speaks to the needs and wants of faculty, institutions and nurse leaders and administrators across the country:

1. To amplify a culture of innovation; and
2. To enhance faculty well-being.

Innovation Fellows work on an innovation project while participating in monthly one-on-one and group coaching sessions with support from our mentoring team. Fellows develop skills and knowledge in areas including innovation competencies using our unique "Three Cs of Innovation" approach, design thinking, emotional intelligence and innovation leadership.  

To encourage robust conversation, we seek a mix of research, practice and education practitioners; thus, a cohort of 8-10 fellows is chosen each year based on an application process. This fellowship is designed for the nurse scientist, leader, administrator, clinician, educator, innovator, creator and/or intrapreneur. Fellows have access to expert faculty from our Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership, the Innovation Studio and our Teaching Innovation Excellence and Scholarship (TIES) Academy.

This program is infused with our Holistic Transcendental Leadership Model for Enhancing Innovation, Creativity and Well-Being and includes balancing spirit, mind and body to help each fellow achieve their career goals. The purpose of developing a holistic transcendental leadership model is to balance the traits in transformational leadership—in which inspired vision comes from a leader who pushes followers to go above and beyond transactional expectations—with spiritual principles that keep the ego and personality in check and in service to the greater good (self-transcendence). From a holistic paradigm, personal wellness, collective wellness and transcendence of professional boundaries round out this leadership model so that it can become an instrument of both organizational and societal change.

Through a self-discovery process, we help fellows build confidence and competence in their work to transform and seek life and work integration, and bring meaning and purpose to their career. Through healing relationships and community, creativity, courage and connection are nurtured. Innovation and healing then emerge from this process that bring together one’s individual aspects within a collective community.

At the start of the program, the fellow will:

• Identify an innovation project to work on for the year. The project can be something new, but the preference is to choose an existing project that the fellow would like to expand upon or take to the next level. The project can be research-, teaching- or practice-related -- whatever fits the fellow's program.
• Find a support partner to encourage them on their journey.
• Be connected to an accountability partner who is also in the program for support and encouragement.
• Complete an assessment to be used to monitor fellow progress and program evaluation.

During the program, the fellow is expected to:

• Attend monthly online group coaching sessions to offer key leadership skills building focused on the basic tenets of holistic transcendental leadership, emotional intelligence and innovation competency.
• Attend monthly online individual coaching sessions where we discuss the fellow's chosen innovation project and goals and design a plan to meet their specific needs. Our goal in these sessions is to pull out the inner innovator and equip them with the skills, knowledge and confidence necessary to infuse a culture of innovation and entrepreneurial mindset in their education, research and practice. We also specifically address the mental health and well-being needs of the fellow.
• Complete monthly modules of content for the fellow to explore. On average, this consists of 1-2 hours per month of engagement. The fellow decides how shallowly or deeply they wish to go with the module content. The module content is provided as a starting point and is designed to enhance the group learning and individual experience.
• Participate in emotional intelligence development utilizing the EQ 2.0 assessment tool.
• Attend an in-person retreat in Columbus, Ohio at the beginning of the fellowship program.

Read about our 2022-23 class of fellows by clicking here. To learn more about the fellow experience, you can read this article in the Spring 2023 edition of the College of Nursing's Transformations magazine.

Thanks to the availability of scholarships to support this program, the cost for the fellowship is $1,999 plus travel for an in-person retreat in Columbus.

All faculty – both 9- or 12-month appointments and research-, teaching- or practice-focused – and nurse leaders and administrators are eligible for the fellowship.

Key initial dates for 2023-24 cohort:

• June 1: application opens
• July 1: application closes
• September 1: new cohort begins
• September 18-20: in-person retreat in Columbus, Ohio

Any questions can be directed to Dr. Taura Barr, Director and Associate Professor, at barr.428@osu.edu.

Proud partner with The Ohio State University Office of Innovation and Economic Development