Great minds really do think alike. And many of the best minds at Ithaca College — among our students, our faculty, our alumni and our staff — have long asked the same questions: Why is it so hard for students and faculty in one school to work collaboratively with students and faculty in another? Why can’t our exceptional schools work together in the service of a single, extraordinary college? These questions came up again and again in the college’s strategic visioning process.

And it’s the question that has driven the current proposal to move us toward an “integrative” Ithaca College, an institution defined by its commitment to disciplinary mastery, experiential practice and the innovation, leadership, teamwork and outcomes that result from strategic collaboration.

What would this look like? In a truly collaborative college setting, the possibilities for learning and experimentation would be as varied as the students and faculty imagining them. And the structures and systems of the college would be flexible enough to foster innovation and breakthrough ideas.

One “Park School” possibility might engage students in a process of development, planning and execution in such team projects as:

•A “Creative Studio,” in which students in cinema, television, photography, screenwriting, English, writing, integrated marketing, art, theater, music, legal studies and business could produce a film for screenings in Los Angeles and New York;

•An “Outdoor Adventure Studio” in which students in the natural sciences, outdoor adventure leadership, environmental science, environmental studies, writing, social studies, health policy, Spanish, cinema, screenwriting and photography could explore the history, economy, biodiversity and culture of the Peruvian Amazon; travel to the region for an extended trip; and produce a documentary or photo exhibit for presentation;

•A “How the World Works Exhibit” in which students in art, physics, chemistry, biology, photography, education, mathematics, music, writing, immersive media and gaming, integrated marketing and computer science could develop a traveling exhibition of interactive games introducing the basic principles of physics, chemistry and biology for use by children’s museums; or

•A “Healthy Living Exhibit” in which students in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, premed, occupational therapy, physical therapy, gerontology, integrated marketing communications, psychology, sociology, gaming and immersive media, music recording and screenwriting could produce a series of interactive modules on health care topics — from exercise to memory retention — to be installed in kiosks at Longview or Cayuga Medical.

Other integrative models might include accelerated, certificate or extended degree programs on campus and online; new approaches to academic advising; and new opportunities for experiential learning. John Seely Brown, former director of Xerox Park and our 2004 Park Distinguished Speaker, said, “The way forward is paradoxically not to look ahead but to look around.”

It is good advice for the college. Because when we do that, a couple of things become clear: We have everything we need to be the best undergraduate comprehensive college in the country. And the path forward is not a line but a network: It connects us — school to school, program to program, opportunity to opportunity, in a new and dynamic cross-section of powerful possibilities.

We are one Ithaca College, and together, we are greater than the sum of our individual parts. It’s time to realize — and leverage — what that means.

Dianne Lynch  is dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications. E-mail her at dlynch@ithaca.edu.