Abstract:

Innovation is no longer limited to corporations and business entities. Innovation became a critical part of the culture in many higher education organizations. This paper addresses the innovation ecosystem, focusing on 5W1H, i.e., what is considered to be innovative, why it is important, where the most innovative universities are located, how innovation is measured, by whom, and how. There are various organizations, agencies, and publications (Reuters, Clarivate Analytics, U.S. News & World Report, Times Higher Education (THE), and QS World University Rankings) that use different methodologies to define and evaluate university's innovation performance. Understandably, external rankings (sometimes perceived as controversial) are not the sole determination of a university's quality or innovation capacity. Thus, this paper not only describes the external rankings but also provides resources for a self-assessment inventory of the innovation in any university that can be used for shaping the institutional culture of innovation and striving for continuous growth and development. The audience is provided with an online collection of support resources (https://www.diigo.com/outliner/cydudf/Innovation?key=doy33zh00m) related to innovation in higher education that can function as a reference point to those new to the field and seasoned educational innovators.

Keywords:

Innovation, higher education, ranking, self-assessment, innovation ecosystem.