The Winning Team Collectively Won a $1,500 Prize
The faculty members involved represented a range of disciplines and collaborated effectively as a team to investigate the potential of emerging technologies in addressing contemporary challenges. Pictured (L-R) alongside Raquel Thomas, director of the B.E.S.T. Innovation Lab, are the members of the winning team: Amanda Shaw, Sybil Rosado, Kennard DuBose, Akilah Carter-Francique, and Emmie Davis, who collectively earned a prize of $1,500.
Columbia, SC—December 20, 2024, Benedict College recently hosted its inaugural Faculty Innovation Academy, an innovative program that highlighted the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of its distinguished faculty. The faculty, hailing from a variety of disciplines, collaborated in teams to explore how emerging technologies can address contemporary challenges.
Organized by the Burroughs Enterprise, Startup, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) Innovation Lab and the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business & Entrepreneurship, the Faculty Innovation Academy emphasizes the College’s commitment to fostering innovation and developing creative solutions within its academic community.
The Academy included a pitch competition, where six teams, each consisting of five faculty members, presented their innovative concepts aimed at solving real-world problems. After a series of engaging pitches and thorough evaluations by a panel of judges, the winners were announced:
1st Place: Advancing Individual Mapping (Group 1) – Awarded $1,500
2nd Place: Attendance and Campus Security (Group 5) – Awarded $1,000
3rd Place: Team BC Spiders (Group 2) – Awarded $500
Dr. Tracy Harell Dunn, Dean of the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business & Entrepreneurship, and Professor Raquel Thomas, Director of the B.E.S.T. Innovation Lab, commended the faculty members for their creativity and teamwork.
“Today’s event not only showcases our faculty’s innovative capabilities but also reflects Benedict College’s steadfast commitment to empowering our academic community to develop impactful solutions,” Professor Thomas remarked.
“The Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business & Entrepreneurship is a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation. By co-sponsoring the Faculty Innovation Academy, we reaffirm our business school’s dedication to fostering creativity, collaboration, and real-world impact on our campus. I am incredibly proud of the ingenuity and passion demonstrated by the faculty participants, and I look forward to seeing these ideas come to fruition,” added Dr. Dunn.
The Faculty Innovation Academy Pitch Competition serves as a vital component of Benedict College’s evolving innovation ecosystem. The next competition is scheduled for May 2025, and faculty members are encouraged to start preparing their ideas and teams. This inaugural event stands as a testament to the dynamic, forward-thinking environment fostered at Benedict College. By promoting and rewarding innovation, the College aims to inspire transformative ideas that will benefit both the campus and surrounding communities.
For more information about the Faculty Innovation Academy Pitch Competition or other events hosted by the B.E.S.T. Innovation Lab, please contact Professor Thomas, Director, at Raquel.Thomas@Benedict.edu or 803-705-4467.
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About Benedict College (www.benedict.edu)
Founded in 1870 by a woman, Bathsheba A. Benedict, Benedict College is a private co-educational liberal arts institution offering 29 competitive baccalaureate degree programs and two master’s degree programs. The Midlands HBCU welcomes students from several counties in South Carolina, states across America, and countries around the world. The College also has a diverse faculty deeply engaged in teaching, research, and service.
Benedict College has been highly regarded and exceptionally ranked for its programs by several academic and traditional publications. Benedict College is the recipient of the 2024 UNCF Institutional Excellence Award given by UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building Program in celebration of an HBCU that achieved next-level performance. Benedict was also named HBCU of the Year by HBCU Digest and was listed among the top half of ranked HBCUs in the 2022 edition of Best Colleges by US News and World Report.
Benedict College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and master’s degrees. Five of the College’s degree programs hold national accreditation: Social Work Program, Environmental Health Science Program, Environmental Engineering, Studio Art, and the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship.
