News about D-Lab

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know about some changes to the OVC organization.

Effective July 1, D-Lab will be transitioning to a new institutional home in the Morningside Academy for Design (MAD). The move comes after much careful consideration and many conversations with D-Lab staff and faculty directors, OVC, MAD, the School of Architecture and Planning leadership, and others at MIT.

MAD’s emphasis on transformative learning, innovation, and meaningful impact through design projects, and embracing making and design as catalysts for positive change aligns beautifully with D-Lab’s charge of advancing transformational student experiences and inclusive pedagogy, scholarship and practice, and practical solutions in global poverty alleviation.

While we will miss having the D-Lab team as part of the OVC family, MAD will provide a fantastic new opportunity for an endeavor that has become a defining part of many of our students’ educational experiences while at MIT.

In fact, D-Lab has long and deep connections to OVC. D-Lab used to report to Professor Kim Vandiver, the former Dean of the Office of Experiential Learning (OEL) and current Director of the Edgerton Center and Project Manus. He was an early supporter of D-Lab and played an instrumental role in its evolution and elevation on campus.

As of today, D-Lab is responsible for 20 MIT courses and offers 12-15 each year. All told, 4,000 students have taken D-Lab classes over the past 22 years, instilling in them the knowledge and on-the-ground-experience to be global change agents.

I fully expect that we will continue to work closely with D-Lab as they find new ways to apply design thinking to achieve a more equitable world. Moreover, D-Lab will remain an essential part of our thriving experiential learning community, engaging with the Edgerton Center, PKG Public Service Center, and UROP, and the broader ELO ecosystem.

For ensuring a smooth transition, I want to thank D-Lab’s Ana Pantelic, Executive Director, and Founding Director Amy Smith; OVC’s Kate Trimble, Chief of Staff and Senior Associate Dean/Director, Office of Experiential Learning, and the leadership at MAD.

Best,

Dan

Daniel E. Hastings
Interim Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education and Cecil (1923) and Ida Green Professor in Education