Funding announced for emerging degrees, faculty hiring initiatives

The office of the senior vice president and provost has announced funding decisions for the Degrees of the Future and Strategic Faculty Hiring initiatives. Both efforts were funded by President Wendy Wintersteen in 2022 to invest in Iowa State's new strategic plan.

Degrees of the Future

Degrees of the Future is a $1.5 million initiative to create new degree programs that address student and workforce demands. Proposals chosen for funding include both bachelor's and master's degrees, and the full range of delivery modes.

Funded proposals

Initiative leader Ann Marie VanDerZanden, associate provost for academic programs, said areas such as digital communications, health careers and game design are emerging or high-growth areas for both students and employers.

"As a student-centric major research university, it is critical we have a full range of degree programs to address Iowa's workforce needs, from established fields like chemistry and agronomy to new disciplines that leverage technology to address grand challenges," she said.

Faculty receiving funding will meet in the coming weeks to learn more about all the funded proposals and create awareness of the range of strategies being used to develop new degree programs. Proposals not chosen for funding as part of the initiative still may be supported at the college or department level. An additional round of funding and request for proposals will be announced in the coming weeks.

Strategic faculty hiring in critical areas

The $3.5 million faculty hiring initiative was designed to build additional capacity in four emerging research areas critical to Iowa's and the nation's economic future, and where new faculty could leverage institutional strengths and resources. Sixteen new positions across the four areas were funded.

Emerging research area: Climate science and sustainability

Emerging research area: Critical materials

Emerging research area: Cybersecurity

Emerging research area: Human health initiatives

Faculty hired through the initiative will start at Iowa State as soon as this July, with arrival dates extending through August 2024. No additional proposal rounds are planned as part of this initiative.

"Faculty hiring helps drive Iowa State's land-grant mission by providing new content for degree programs, exploring new avenues for research and sharing scholarship through extension and outreach," said associate provost for faculty Dawn Bratsch-Prince, who co-led the initiative with vice president for research Peter Dorhout.

According to Bratsch-Prince, many of the successful proposals landed at the intersection of multiple disciplines, creating additional opportunities for collaboration. Several also address new academic programs proposed through the Degrees of the Future initiative, including digital health, integrated health sciences and precision agriculture.