CARE HIVE

Novel approach to designing caring universities leveraging contextualized and intuitive care indicators and hybrid collective sensemaking methods.

Universities are in crisis. Anxiety disorders, isolation and financial insecurity have become pervasive on university campuses for students, faculty and staff. To address these complex problems we first need to understand the precise way in which universities as organizations contribute to this.

Drawing on extensive research and testing involving over 150 participants over an 8-month period, we developed Care Hive: an innovative organizational tool designed to make care performance within universities tangible and addressable. It consists of:

1) Care Indicators – these are contextualized metrics that serve as a set of system change targets and progress measures.

2) A unique data visualization of the institutional care scores based on the indicators, making data transparent and accessible, showing trends, challenges, and best practices over time.

3) A collective sensemaking method that enables the community to leverage the data to inform the design of new policies and practices.

By centering metrics and mapping around care, our tool drives new conversations around organizational goals, helps shift institutional values, reallocate budgets, and foster critical accountability. This transformative approach reshapes the core fabric of universities.

Partners: Istem Akalp, Irika Mehta, Mihika Mehta

Presented at Management and Social Justice Conference 2023