About the College Innovation Alliance (C.I.A.)

A cartoon character of an eagle dressed as a spy, wearing sunglasses and a fedora, holding a magnifying glass, with a briefcase labeled "MISSION: POSSIBLE." In 2020, a group of faculty and staff teamed up and founded the College Innovation Workgroup. Their hopes were to make CSM better by developing a creative-safe platform where students, staff, and faculty could dream up ideas on ways to improve how we live, learn, and work. This platform came to be known as Hawk Pitch.

Today, we continue to grow and are no longer considered just a "work group." We are now the College Innovation Alliance, aka, the C.I.A., and we still carry on the original mission and goals: encouraging, growing, collaborating, creating, and impacting CSM through thoughtful, meaningful ideas. Whether it’s rethinking spaces, improving sustainability, or sparking joy in unexpected places, we must continually examine, renew, and adopt leading-edge policies, practices, and technologies that advance continuous improvement.

Our Mission

We foster and facilitate an inclusive culture of collaboration at CSM where new ideas are welcomed and opportunities for education are expanded that lead to meaningful changes advancing the mission and vision of the college.

Goals

Design a system of innovation capture and cultivation
Act as an innovation broker by providing employees and students with a process to pitch new ideas.

Improve inter-departmental collaboration on projects and new ideas

Encourage professional development about innovation and intrapreneurship
Encourage a speaker’s series
Research and stay current on innovative practices particularly in higher education