PSU’s Cluster Learning Model reshapes how programs are structured at the University into a learner-centered experience that exposes students to other disciplines and encourages them to work on real-world issues, ideas, and challenges. It further strives to make the University’s knowledge and expertise accessible to anyone who needs it. 

Trustees of the Davis Educational Foundation described the PSU team as “impressive in its leadership, its collaborative spirit, and in the sophistication of its thinking about instructional design.”

nnovation may conjure up something between a gadget one might find in an airplane magazine or an abstract quality appropriate for a business plan—ultimately, a way to sell something, but the notion can be more generalized. As a geographer by training and nature I have a strong tendency to link places with characteristics.

Can a setting be conducive to innovation, and if so, does our local intersection around 43° 45’N and 71° 41’W fit the bill? Having carried driver’s licenses from eight different states and spent ten years contemplating the social and non-human world around Plymouth, I conclude that if places can contain ingredients yielding innovation, we have them.

Diversity is fundamental to producing innovation. You can create a new image with the eight-crayon box, but the 96-count box makes it much easier. Too often diversity is a stand-in for ethnic and racial diversity, but human worlds carry many more categories and to produce something novel, it’s best to start with as many options as possible.

obots, AI, and technology are all plugged in on Plymouth State’s campus, but Panthers aren’t limited to these conventional examples of innovation.

Consider the 96-credit three-year applied bachelor’s programs that are launching this fall. Plymouth State is the first college or university in New Hampshire (and among the first in the nation) to offer these programs that make it easier for students to earn their degrees and start careers with less student debt. The applied bachelor’s programs are in high-demand fields, including cybersecurity, outdoor adventure leadership, police studies, robotics and automation engineering, and small business administration. All can be completed in three years of study and offer pathways to traditional four-year, 120-credit programs.

Our history, location, and collaborative culture produces multiple other out of the box academic programs, insights, and activities.

o you recall your “GenEd” experience as checking various boxes, a superfluous distraction from your major?

Every university has General Education requirements. Accreditors want to ensure undergraduates leave college a fully “educated” person. Historically, many students have seen such requirements as disjointed, if not burdensome: largely proscribed, dispersed across the disciplinary nooks and crannies of the catalog, and comprising far too much of their coursework. Plymouth State’s Cluster Learning Model has changed all that by spurring innovation in the field of General Education.

Until recently, the Panther experience largely mirrored much of the nation’s “distributive” approach. Our first GenEd program had students mainly choose from three broad liberal arts areas. In 1985, we honed-in on these and asked students to take a dozen-plus courses. But defining GenEd by major-specific courses that could “double” count in the discipline and GenEd resulted in a large program accounting for nearly half of the courses required for a baccalaureate degree.

n an era where education is rapidly evolving to become more inclusive, the Remedial Herstory Project is a pioneering initiative dedicated to correcting the vast gender imbalance in historical narratives, where women make up about five percent of social studies curricula.

This nonprofit organization has become a transformative force in history education with over 100 contributing scholars. At PSU, I have leveraged my dual roles to bring together students and scholars and create meaningful opportunities to change social studies resources and instruction systematically.

Our mission is straightforward yet powerful: to bring women’s stories and experiences toward the center of historical study so that girls and boys can see women in it. Traditional history curricula have wrongly erased or omitted women’s perspectives, accomplishments, and contributions for generations, focusing on a narrow, male-defined narrative. The project challenges that model by producing high-quality, inquiry-based resources that elevate women’s voices throughout world and IS history.

e sing songs while commuting, hum catchy marketing jingles unthinkingly. These days, audio tracks freshen content of YouTube videos and podcasts, making even the mundane sparkle.

Recording Studio Supervisor Parish Dawe-Chadwick ’21 is a teaching lecturer in the digital music production and entrepreneurship program (DMP&E), a Cluster major that takes advantage of Plymouth State’s curricular interdisciplinarity. He explains that all music nowadays is digitally produced—and even digitally created.

“Many scores for major commercials, films, and TV shows have a ‘full orchestra’ backing them, but it’s all digital,” says Dawe-Chadwick. “You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference because samples are so high quality now. Digital has become so far reaching; it’s the mode of the industry.”

revolution in entertainment production is taking place in Derry, NH. At the forefront is Tim Messina ’06, whose Plymouth State experience in the Hartman Union Building (HUB) has evolved into two companies, Studio Lab and Events United, that are redefining live events and media creation.

Messina’s journey is a testament to the power of adaptability, curiosity, and a relentless pursuit of innovation. “It started when I arrived at Plymouth in 2002,” Messina recalls. “I fell in love with audio mixing.” His passion for managing productions ignited a spark that continues to fuel his entrepreneurial spirit.

Studio Lab is a space where virtual production, augmented reality, and immersive experiences converge. Events United handles large-scale live events with cutting-edge technology—from concerts to political rallies across the country.

The program reflects PSU’s innovative approach to education. It emphasizes enrichment experiences outside of the classroom, social opportunities to build community, and optional project work determined by the interests and passions of the students themselves. It’s hands-on, interactive, and further enhances the college experience in a meaningful way for our most high-achieving students.

What’s the purpose of PSU’s Honors Program?

It ensures our most academically successful students thrive on campus and is grounded in three pillars: building camaraderie; providing enriching experiences; and giving back through community service. Program requirements align with this mission.

The Panthers started strong, splitting their first four games and entering winter break with a 6-3 record. The signs were already there: each of the three losses came by a single goal, and the team was well on its way to breaking the program record for wins.

January brought more success. PSU went 5-1-1 through the heart of the month and remained unbeaten in conference play until a late-January road loss at Rivier. By then, the team had already reached double-digit wins for just the second time in program history.

• The Day We Turned the Tassel – Plymouth State Undergraduate Ceremony Class of 2025
• Caps Off – Plymouth State Graduate Ceremony Class of 2025
• 2025 Showcase – Students show off their 2025 Showcase of Research and Engagement projects