Initiative Overview

Concept

Many of us are walking around with “what if” ideas in our heads:

• What if we had a way to engage meaningfully with artistic expression and environmental sustainability?
• What if we used AI to create new forms of educational content to engage our students?
• What if we activated our public spaces differently to create a more inclusive campus? 

Vision

The “What If” Initiative is a platform to explore and develop new ideas through interdisciplinary innovation, emphasize the creative spirit of a liberal arts education, and provide the ability to test transformative concepts — turning speculative “What If” ideas into tangible advances that shape the future of education. The “What If” Initiative is designed to support ideas from the Hamilton community that experiment with new ways for students to experience learning, for faculty to innovate their teaching, for staff to explore new ways to support students, and for enhancing our campus community’s creative commitment to expression, fostering belonging, and connection, through the practice of the liberal arts and the spirit of creative exchange. “What If” propels our community to remain a dynamic force, continuously evolving, imagining, and influencing the broader educational landscape.

Eligibility

All currently enrolled students and current employees of the Hamilton College community are eligible to submit “What If” ideas and proposals.

Intended Outcomes

• Foster a creative and experimental campus culture by emphasizing cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration that helps students navigate and innovate across boundaries, enhancing their ability to make positive change in the world.
• Support diverse and ambitious ideas, from small-scale experiments to larger collaborative efforts that involve disparate parts of the Hamilton community, that break down division/department/office silos on campus.
• Allow the community to test an idea or pilot a project with support to further refine, develop, and implement an idea.
• Promote the growth and ongoing development of nontraditional, successful initiatives that contribute to lasting transformations at the College.
• Enable projects that enhance our capacity for inclusion, community, and belonging on campus through proposals that bring together people and departments that might not typically collaborate.

Questions? Please email the committee at whatif@hamilton.edu.

Proposal Application Requirements

• The “What If” idea phrased in a “What If” question
• Three to four sentences to “pitch” the idea
• An expanded executive summary (2-3 paragraphs) that summarizes the “What If” idea and addresses how it meets the Intended Outcomes
• The type of proposal (per the categories listed above)
• A draft budget (Resources: Budget Template and Funding Guidelines)
• A list of current partners with an expanded list of potential future collaborators

Evaluation

All proposals will be evaluated with a Likert scale of agreement (1-5 with 5 being the most agreement; N/A=0) by the “What If” Committee and an expanded group of evaluators based on the criteria below. Proposals will not be expected to address all criteria in the initial application. However, evaluation will be on the perceived contribution to the criteria. It will be expected that selected “What If” Proposals will further develop around themes in the Proposals Evaluation criteria through the workshop process. 

Decisions

Throughout the process, the "What If" committee will make recommendations to President Tepper based on the criteria in the Proposal Evaluation as well as other feedback received. President Tepper will decide which Proposals move forward in the initiative. 

1. Creativity

• Originality: The extent to which the proposals is novel and breaks from conventional thinking.
• Interdisciplinary Integration: The ability to draw on knowledge from various liberal arts disciplines to enrich the proposals.
• Cultural and Ethical Awareness: How well the proposals reflects an understanding of diverse cultural contexts and ethical considerations.
• Innovation and Impact: The degree to which the proposals influences existing structures or contributes to significant and positive change.
• Expressiveness: The emotional and intellectual engagement achieved through artistic, literary, scientific, or policy means.

2. Collaboration

• Communication and Discourse: Effectiveness in fostering open dialogue, critical thinking, and intellectual exchange, rooted in liberal arts traditions.
• Diversity of Perspectives: The inclusion and synthesis of ideas from multiple disciplines, with a potential to foster a richer collaborative environment.
• Ethical Collaboration: Represent shared responsibility and partnership in the proposals and the expected outcomes.
• Shared Goals and Vision: Alignment of team efforts around a common purpose that reflects a liberal arts ethos including the pursuit of knowledge or societal betterment.
• Common Ground: The ability to navigate differences of opinion through reasoned debate and mutual understanding, drawing on liberal arts practices.

3. Institutional Transformation

• Vision and Strategy: The proposals has a transformative vision that incorporates the values and insights of the liberal arts, such as critical thinking, empathy, and civic responsibility.
• Change Management: Effectiveness in implementing change that respects the institution’s cultural heritage while embracing innovative practices.
• Integration of Liberal Arts: The extent to which liberal arts principles are embedded in the proposals practices, curricula, or organizational culture.
• Cultural Shift: Transformation that promotes a broader understanding of human experiences, values, and intellectual traditions.
• Sustainability of Change: Ensuring that changes are sustainable and continue to promote the liberal arts values over time.

4. Sustainability

• Environmental and Social Impact: The consideration of ecological and social dimensions in the proposals, informed by insights from the liberal arts.
• Resource Efficiency and Ethics: Efficiency in resource use combined with ethical considerations and the potential to benefit future generations.
• Cultural Sustainability: Promotion of cultural heritage and intellectual traditions with new practices.
• Economic Viability: Long-term financial sustainability, balanced with commitments to social justice and equity, as informed by the liberal arts.
• Scalability and Educational Impact: Potential to scale the proposal while meeting future generations of our campus community.

5. Practice of the Liberal Arts

• Critical Thinking and Analysis: The potential for the proposal to question assumptions, address complex problems, and produce novel outcomes.
• Ethical Reasoning: Application of moral and ethical principles in the proposal.
• Cultural Literacy: Understanding and appreciating diverse cultural narratives, histories, and perspectives from the liberal arts.
• Civic Engagement: The potential for active participation in civic life, with an emphasis on contributing to the common good.
• Interdisciplinary Knowledge: The ability to demonstrate knowledge from multiple liberal arts disciplines to inform problem-solving and decision-making.

These criteria ensure that the evaluation process not only assesses the effectiveness and impact of creativity, collaboration, institutional transformation, and sustainability but also emphasizes the role of liberal arts in shaping thoughtful, ethical, and culturally aware proposals to help shape our campus community for generations to come.

Accepted Proposals: Next Steps

Notification of accepted proposals will be before the start of the spring 2025 semester.

Spark and Catalyst Propositions

Accepted proposals in these categories will receive funding to begin work on the idea. A follow-up report will be due within one month of the proposals being implemented, addressing the Intended Outcomes of the “What If” Initiative. Follow-up reports must be submitted before the end of the funding period.

Funding Guidelines

Transformational Propositions

Accepted proposals will be invited to two workshops and a presentation of the proposal in the spring and fall of 2025. Workshops for selected proposals will focus on developing areas related to the Proposal Evaluation criteria, which will be shared when the Call for Proposals opens.

Transformational Proposition Development Workshop #1

This workshop will take place in January/February 2025 and help participants:

• Make additional connections/collaborations for each proposal
• Further develop the proposal and elevator pitch
• Provide time to work with collaborators on drafting/revising/adding to their proposal

Transformational Proposition Development Workshop #2

This workshop will take place in the summer of 2025 and help participants explore the breadth and requirements to implement each proposal and to further develop a timeline, budget, and long-term planning strategy.

Participants will gather at an off-campus location for two days and one night; transportation, lodging, reimbursement by receipt for reasonable child care, and meals will be covered by Hamilton. More details to come.

Fall 2025 “What If” Festival

Accepted “What If” proposal collaborators will be invited to present to the Hamilton community. More details to come.

“What If” Initiative Committee

• Nathan Goodale, Professor of Anthropology, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs; co-chair
• Lisa Magnarelli ’96, Director of College Events & Scheduling; co-chair
• Jasmine Bonilla ’28
• Travis Hill, Dean of Campus Life
• Meg Keniston, Executive Director of Content Strategy
• Joe Kubofcik ’25
• Koboul E. Mansour, Director of Days-Massolo Multicultural Center
• Lisa McFall, Director of Digital Initiatives, Scholarship & Collaboration
• Jennifer Mendiola, Executive Director of Alumni & Parent Engagement, Events & Promotion
• Celeste Day Moore, Associate Professor of History
• Jerry Tylutki, Director of Information Security & Privacy