Kansas State University

Provost's office announces fall Academic Innovation Fund rollout

Submitted by Office of the Provost

The Next-Gen K-State strategic plan contains a clear focus on academic innovation. As the plan highlights, "We must reimagine everything about how we educate and prepare learners — broadly challenging ourselves to move nimbly beyond our traditional approaches and lean into a culture of disruption, agility and change."

Reimagining how we educate learners begins with faculty and units that develop excellent and engaging programs. To support this work, the Office of the Provost is launching the second year of the Academic Innovation Fund this Fall.

The university is investing up to $1 million in new academic programs in fiscal year 2025 as part of the One-K-State strategic planning investment fund. A call for proposals for credit and noncredit learning experiences has been established, and this call is designed to spur creative and collaborative curricular proposals universitywide. Proposals may include new degree programs at all levels: minors, certificates, and both credit and noncredit microcredentials.

As Provost and Executive Vice President Jesse Perez Mendez shared, "Among the various changes proposed in the Next-Gen strategic plan, the prospect that thrills me the most is the initiative to revamp our array of services. This revamp is designed to cater to diverse learners and address a wide spectrum of workforce and skill requirements. By developing appealing and significant academic programs and microcredentials across various formats, we are not just reinventing our identity but also enhancing the way we fulfill our core mission.”

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 to produce a short executive summary of the new program, which will be due Oct. 4. The 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 webinars will provide guidance and market insights for programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. Both will be recorded and shared on the provost's Academic Innovation Fund website.

• Submitting an Academic Innovation Proposal Information Session will take place from 1:30-2:20 p.m. Aug. 30 on Zoom.
• In-Demand Skills Webinar offered by the Center for Academic Innovation's Market Intelligence Analysts will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 17. 

Please email academicinnovation@k-state.edu to RSVP.

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.