Psychology professor leads Creativity Initiative

Monday, February 15, 2010

Deadline and schedule set for OSU 2010 Creativity Challenge and Festival

(Stillwater, OK   February 15, 2010) -- The Creativity Initiative at Oklahoma State University has a new director.  Melanie Page, professor of psychology, is overseeing the initiative initially started by OSU President Burns Hargis in the fall of 2008 and directed by John Mowen, professor and director of the department of marketing in the Spears School of Business.  

“My goal is to transform our campus into a place where creative and innovative ideas are welcomed and valued in addition to finding ways of taking those ideas and putting them into action,” said Page.

The initiative has been moved to the School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business.  

“The School of Entrepreneurship is a natural home for the initiative,” said Page.  “We hope to work together to enhance the experiences of all OSU students and help create citizens who are poised to be successful in the next century.”  

The hope, Page added, is that the initiative will engage the campus in the idea that entrepreneurship is not just for business majors and creativity is not just for art majors and innovation is not just something engineers and scientists do.  

“All of us can be creative, innovative and entrepreneurial in a myriad of areas in our personal and professional lives,” said Page.

Part of the initiative includes a creativity competition.  The competition, which is open to anyone living in Stillwater or associated with OSU, is spearheaded this year by the Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Scholars.  

The “Building a Creative Community Challenge” asks the question: How can we re-create our community?

“What the scholars wanted to do was reach out to the broader Stillwater and Payne County community,” said Kip Kelley, CIE Creativity Challenge Chair.  “The hope is that participants will come up with ideas to address current challenges in the Stillwater/Payne County or OSU communities.”

Page added, this year’s challenge not only fits into the university’s desire to strengthen its relationship with the surrounding community and its citizens but also meets a challenge set forth by Oklahoma’s Chancellor of Higher Education.  Chancellor Glenn Johnson recently launched “Making Place Matter”.  This initiative focuses on ways in which universities across the state can enhance the communities where they are located.  

The deadline for project submissions is February 26.  The Creativity Festival is set for March 25 and includes creativity booths and demonstrations. For more information about the Initiative, the Creativity Challenge or exhibiting during the Festival contact Page at melanie.page@okstate.edu (405-744-7334) or Kelley at kip.kelley@okstate.edu (405-744-3352) or visit the initiative web site at www.creativity.okstate.edu.