The University of Minnesota’s College of Design is looking for someone to spearhead its new public interest design initiative. The position, which was officially announced on Wednesday, is for a director of the public interest design initiative, which the college hopes to flesh out once they bring the new director on board.
“We repeatedly hear that there is no pipeline for students working in public interest design after they graduate,” Tom Fisher, the dean of the College of Design, says. “We want to figure out how to take this strong interest among our students, and the government, and foundations, and turn that into a career path.”
The students, he says, develop ideas while they are working toward a degree, but then they don’t have a place to take them once they graduate. One way Fisher sees the College bridging that gap is by adding a fellowship program.
“We want to push this type of work beyond just pro bono,” he says.
The university hopes to fill the position by fall.