St. Norbert College was one of five organizations named winners of the first Insight Innovation Awards at the third annual THINC! event held Tuesday, May 20, at UW-Fox Valley in Menasha.

Contest judges created a special "Integrating Innovation" award to recognize the organization-wide commitment St. Norbert College has made to folding big ideas into everything it does.

In 2013, St. Norbert President Tom Kunkel invited a member of his cabinet to take on the challenge of creating a team to further foster an innovative culture at the college and identify strategic opportunities. "The Big Ideas Group" was charged with soliciting forward-thinking ideas. Everyone -- from students and faculty to alumni, trustees and Norbertines -- was asked to submit ideas. In less than 90 days, 250 ideas flooded in. From these, five clusters of innovation were chosen; the best will be incorporated into the strategic plan for the college.

All of this is happening against a backdrop of major changes and enhancements at the college. Within the last five years, more than $100 million in construction has taken place; next year, the Medical College of Wisconsin will have a campus at St. Norbert; and this spring, the Donald J. Schneider School of Business and Economics and a new MBA program were announced.