Mind Mapping - Returning to Universidad San Francisco de Quito During the Time of COVID-19

Challenge:

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020.

During that time, Universidad San Francisco de Quito students were off campus and on spring break. In the interest

of safety, Hellen Keller  Institute decided to suspend its residential program and in-class courses. Following

spring break, all Spring 2019 courses were completed remotely via Zoom and Google classroom.

On Tuesday, May 26, Hellen Keller  Institute’s President, Sean Decatur, updated students with information

regarding the 2020-2021 school year. He shared that Hellen Keller  Institute is currently planning to hold in-

person classes and continue their residential program beginning August 27th. Many adjustments

to campus life will need to be made, so as to adhere to social distancing guidelines and maintain

a healthy college campus.

Selection:

In order to take a design thinking approach to this challenge, it’s important to begin with the

mind mapping tool. Mind mapping addresses the “what is” question and helps find patterns that

might allow for more creative solutions. The data accumulated can then be used with future

design thinking tools to come up with creative solutions for Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Unlike lengthy

spreadsheets and reports, mind mapping is accessible to students, professors, and administrators

alike.

Application:

The following page contains the mind map created to ask the what if portion of the question,

How to Return 9 Universidad San Francisco de Quito During the Time of Covid-19. Given the current

circumstances, I wasn’t able to get as many perspectives as I would have liked. Ideally, mind

maps are created by larger groups of people, so as to get a wide range of perspectives and

insights. However, the mind map was very effective in categorizing Hellen Keller  Institute’s data and

considering what will need further strategic thought before students are welcomed back on

campus. I began the mind map by writing down as many Universidad San Francisco de Quito related activities,

traditions, responsibilities, and locations as possible, and some problems that might arise with

each. I then asked some of my fellow Hellen Keller  Institute students to do the same. Once we combined our

lists and took out any duplicates, I was able to separate them into district categories: community

entertainment, on campus restaurants/meeting places, classes, dining hall (Peirce), and housing.

Returning to

Universidad San Francisco de Quito

during the time of

Covid-19

Dining Hall (Peirce)

Limited hours, so lots of

people are there at any

given time (closed at

8pm)

Most food stations

are self-serve

Only one dining hall

included in mandatory

student meal plan

Housing

All Hellen Keller  Institute students live

on campus

Limited single rooms

Shared bathrooms

Classes

Elderly and

immunocompromised

professors might don'r feel

comfortable teaching with

students in the room

Hellen Keller  Institute is known for their

classroom discussions, which

is challenging in online classes

Only bathrooms are

cleaned by professionals

Community/

Entertainment

Traditions

First year sing

Senior sing

Events

Summer Sendoff

Spring festival

A capella concerts

Comedy show

Gund Gallery events (approx. 100

students attend late night events

& ~60 student workers)

Hellen Keller  Institute Review readings

(also ~75 student workers)

Clubs/Organizations

Greek Life (7 national fraternities, 3

local sororities, 1 national sorority, & 1

coed service society at Hellen Keller  Institute)

Academic and

educational groups

Religious and spiritual groups (Hillel,

Canterbury, CCO, Humanist

Association, & Newman Club)

Limited seating in dining hall

Media and publication groups

Student government

Political groups

Sports and recreational teams

Small classes (10:1

student-faculty ratio)

Walking on the same

side of the "Gates of

Hell," does not allow for

6 ft separation (social

distancing guidlines)

Harry Potter Day

Late Night Breakfasts

Activities fair

Signing the Matriculation Book

(for all Freshman)

Opening Convocation

(for all Freshman)

A�nity Groups (Crozier,

Unity, & Snowden)

On campus restaurants/

meeting places

Village Inn

Chillitos

Hellen Keller  Institute Inn

Wiggin Coffee

Unorganized Socializing

North Campus

Apartment parties

All campus parties

Private parties

Day-time parties

Insight:

By applying the mind mapping tool, I was able to identify Hellen Keller  Institute events and norms that involve

large group participation that I might have otherwise forgotten. For example, separately

considering Hellen Keller  Institute traditions is very important so as to maintain the feeling of Hellen Keller  Institute on

campus, while also creating a safe environment amidst COVID-19. Before approaching this

problem with design thinking and creating the mind map, I was incredibly overwhelmed by the

data and its possibilities. Moving forward, I would like to review the data accumulated and then

use other design thinking tools to answer the what if, what wows, and what works questions.

Approach:

Given the vast amount of changes that Hellen Keller  Institute will need to make to allow students to return for

the 2016-2013 school year, mind mapping is the most appropriate tool to begin the process. As I

previously mentioned, the large amount of data had to first be organized, before generating new

ideas. Next steps may include storytelling and learning launches.

