Kansas State University

Fall Academic Innovation Fund deadline is Oct. 4, resources available

Submitted by Office of the Provost

The Next-Gen K-State strategic plan emphasizes academic innovation, urging a reimagining of educational approaches. This initiative starts with faculty and units creating engaging programs. To support this, the Office of the Provost has launched the second year of the Academic Innovation Fund this fall.

The university is investing up to $1 million in new academic programs for fiscal year 2025 through the One-K-State strategic planning investment fund. A call for proposals for both credit and noncredit learning experiences aims to inspire creative and collaborative curricular proposals across the university. These proposals may include new degree programs, minors, certificates and microcredentials.

Priority will be given to proposals that:

• Meet regional, national or international learner or workplace needs of the future.
• Drive curricular innovation and academic excellence at K-State using new and flexible methods to present up-to-date and rigorous disciplinary learning experiences.
• Align with the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan, its opportunity agenda and its strategic imperatives, including but not limited to growing enrollments based on market needs.
• Support the long-term financial viability of the university.

The process this fall will differ from the process utilized in the initial year. This year, we have developed a two-part application process to assist faculty in developing their ideas, and to create a more nimble application and decision process.

The first step is to produce a short executive summary of the new program, which will be due Oct. 4. The Center for Academic Innovation team will be available to support in the development of these summaries.

These short proposals will be reviewed by an executive review team comprised of representatives from the provost executive team, deans council, academic affairs and innovation, and faculty senate. The aim is to assure viability of the proposals before requesting a more developed AIF application. Selected programs will be invited to submit full proposals which will be due Jan. 31, 2025.

As planning for new proposals occurs, two upcoming open Zoom collaboration times with the Center for Academic Innovation team will provide valuable feedback and insights to attendees:

3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 983 9481 8476

1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 984 6446 6041

In addition, two previous webinars have been recorded and are shared on the provost's Academic Innovation Fund website: an Academic Innovation Fund informational webinar and an "In-Demand Skills" webinar hosted by the Market Intelligence and Analysis Team.

Funded proposals will be announced in March 2025. For more information about the timeline and application process, faculty and staff are encouraged to review the details for the Academic Innovation Fund on the provost's website. Questions may be sent to academicinnovation@k-state.edu. We look forward to working with you to achieve our Next-Gen K-State Academic Innovation goals.