Introduction
Many first time, and returning, Hacking for Defense® (H4D) educators have questions on how to best recruit a Teaching Team and mission-driven students to their course. In this document, we will outline best practices that we compiled from over 18 H4D Teaching Teams. We hope you can leverage these strategies and resources to recruit and build the best H4D ecosystem at your university. As always, if you have any questions about or suggestions for this resource, please contact the H4D Program Team with your feedback at contact@h4d.us. Happy innovating!
Recruiting Best Practices
In terms of H4D Recruiting, there are two central components to a successful strategy. These include:
1. Identifying and recruiting other faculty members from your university from other fields/disciplines.
2. Recruiting students from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and interests.
Part 1: Faculty
Recruiting additional faculty members from different disciplines/departments serves several key functions when it comes to creating university buy-in, student interest, and ultimately, the development and implementation of successful solutions in the H4D classroom.
University Buy-In, University Overhead Support, and Attracting Student Interest
Searching in different departments and disciplines is essential while identifying faculty members to potentially partner with. Below you will find steps on how to identify, define, and develop a successful co-teaching relationship for the H4D classroom. Finding educators in other departments increases visibility, especially when the course is cross-listed. Co-teaching across departments also taps into other faculty members’ student networks and increases course diversity and its ultimate chance for success.
How to Identify Potential Teaching Partners
Consider the key components of H4D; the Lean Launchpad methodology and the Department of Defense. If you have experience in one but not the other, finding an educator that supplements your knowledge and assists in creating a well-rounded classroom ecosystem.
How to Define a Successful Co-Teaching Relationship
Your Teaching Team could take many shapes and sizes, however a minimum of two main educators is highly recommended. The Teaching Teams may split the class operations and team oversight/feedback responsibilities equally amongst themselves and/or their Teaching Assistants (TAs).
Cross-disciplinary Teams Lead to Success
In addition to increasing student interest, cross-listing H4D increases the diversity and multidisciplinary nature of your classroom. The more diverse and multidisciplinary student teams are, the greater the likelihood that they have the skills to develop and discover solutions to the DoD’s toughest problems. The specific resources and strengths each university brings to bear are unique and you, as the H4D educator, have the best vantage point to consider those strengths and establish the strongest Teaching Team possible for the course. Don’t forget, the H4D Program Team is always standing by ready to support you in this endeavor.
Part 2: Students
When recruiting students, the focus should lie in quality and diversity. The target population is students who are mission-driven, entrepreneurial or innovative, and aren’t afraid of putting in hard work. This also includes students new to innovation who are curious and eager to learn. Diversity contributes to the multidisciplinary focus of H4D methodologies and is arguably the most important to successful course outcomes. When students of the same team are able to look at and interpret information and interviews through different lenses, the aperture to their discoveries are opened wider. With this in mind, the following can help to increase diverse student interest in H4D at your university.
1. Create and utilize marketing materials that appeal to a wide variety of student audiences.
A great place to begin is by sharing the H4D Student Success Stories available on the H4D website. These stories walk you through the journey of some highly successful H4D student teams.
2. Leverage student advocates and testimonials to engage your target audiences.
Keep successful students involved in years to come. Former H4D students make for excellent H4D TAs and ambassadors of the class.
3. Utilize social media.
Oftentimes students will form Facebook groups where they can recommend courses and request/give candid feedback to one another. See if you have a student who is willing to share course information/success videos there.
If your department or university have social media accounts, like Instagram and Snapchat, arrange for students/teams to do “Instagram takeovers” or become “Snapchat storytellers”. This allows a broad range of student audiences a candid look into the H4D classroom.
Consider setting up social media accounts (e.g. Youtube, Blog, Instagram) for your H4D class for students to refer to when considering your course. H4D is all about innovation, so be innovative in how you recruit and market to your student-body as well (e.g. JMU XLabs and UTA Innovation Lab)!
If you choose to set up social media accounts or have access to some at your university, you can put together promotional videos that effectively convey what the H4D experience is like and are accessible to many audiences.
Consider using ads on social media or LinkedIn. More schools are using Facebook and Instagram ads for recruitment and Linked allows you to target based on school, interests, and fields of study.
These types of avenues provide value to the students as well. A weekly blog allows students to easily retrace the iterations and pivots along their journey, while simultaneously giving prospective students an honest account of the course, obstacles, and successes. Videos and social media content can easily be added to digital portfolios and show their experience in action to potential employers.
4. Start a personal outreach campaign.
Reach out personally, via phone or email, to former students from other courses and have your Teaching Team do the same. Target successful students in your networks and reach out and introduce them to the H4D opportunity.
5. Set up meetings with Academic Advisors.
These meetings can be a platform for you to explain H4D to Academic Advisors and the unique opportunities it provides for their advisees.
If you are holding information sessions or recruitment events, it is helpful to share these with Advisors as well.
In the covid-era many schools are having Advisors reach out to students to check-in and chat pre-registration. A greater understanding, familiarity, and warm connection to the Teaching Team can increase the likelihood that Advisors will recommend H4D to the students seeking guidance.
6. Host Informational Events for prospective students.
Informational events can be virtual or in-person and can take many shapes and forms.
Some Universities host informational meetings where the Teaching Team, and even former students, explain more about the course and what students can expect. Others prefer “Lunch and Learn” informational meetings, where food is provided (virtually this is often done by providing UberEats credits, etc.). In addition to larger gatherings, some Teaching Teams also hold office hours after initial events for students to ask questions one-on-one.
Best Practices In Action
1. Inventors Sprints, University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin’s main recruiting strategy is a 1-day Inventors Sprint event (which can be done virtually). Traditionally, the event is scheduled for 5-8 hours, and is an intense brainstorming session around a given problem concluding with a presentation. This gives participants an express experience of the general style of the H4D course. The sprint gives students a low risk, collaborative way to enter the innovation environment that they may or may not be comfortable with. Discomfort can serve as a barrier to entry to otherwise interested students. One student at the sprint event said, “I’m not an engineer, so I don’t think I should talk.” The sprint provides a test-drive to potential H4D students before having to commit to a semester-long course. In addition to prospective students, former/current H4D Problem Sponsors and Mentors will often come back for the sprint helping to maintain the H4D ecosystem on campus.
2. Must-take Professors, James Madison University
James Madison University designs its Teaching Teams with student recruitment in mind. Professor Nick Swayne likes to recruit the “coolest professors” to join him in teaching H4D. He finds and networks with professors whose courses are considered must-takes by students based on the professor’s reputation for engaging and excellent teaching. In doing so, Swayne increases H4D’s visibility and popularity among the student body.
This article is available for download here.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. Licensees may copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and make derivative works and remixes based on it only for non-commercial purposes. This work was originally authored by Steve Blank, Pete Newell, and Joe Felter. Copyrights in this work are jointly owned by The Common Mission Project and BMNT, Inc.
For permission requests, e-mail contact@commonmission.us or write to:
Common Mission Project
410 Sherman Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 64109