Provost's office funds 24 transformative initiatives

The office of the senior vice president and provost has announced $2.4 million in funding across two years for 24 transformative initiatives to support new academic programs, student success and career readiness, and build additional capacity in artificial intelligence (AI). Senior vice president and provost Jason Keith announced the one-time funding initiative in December, and proposals were due in early February.

"We were very impressed with both the quality and innovation of the proposals, as well as their connection to Iowa State's strategic plan," Keith said. "At their core, the projects create new opportunities for students, faculty, staff and Iowans; support future enrollment growth; and help navigate changing environments for research funding and community engagement, all while supporting the university's land-grant mission." 

Proposals were reviewed and ranked by unit leaders (deans, directors, vice presidents) and forwarded to the provost's office for final consideration. The 24 funded proposals are listed below; a list with additional project details is on the provost's office website. 

Projects with common themes, such as AI, micro-credentials and custom education, will coordinate efforts and meet regularly to share progress and challenges, and help ensure their work can be applied broadly across the university.

Keith thanked all the faculty and staff who submitted proposals. He encouraged those whose projects were not funded to continue developing their ideas in collaboration with their academic departments and colleges.

Funded proposals

CY AI Scholar Program: Cultivating AI Expertise within Individual Disciplines

• Leader: Wallapak Tavanapong
• Partner: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Funding: $37,500

AI in Veterinary Medical Education: Exploring Opportunities for Teaching, Learning and Assessment

• Leaders: Aliye Karabulut-Ilgu, Zoe Lambert, Melissa Tropf, Todd Bell
• Partner: College of Veterinary Medicine
• Funding: $100,000

Iowa Innovation Works: A Design and Technology Gateway for Iowa Businesses

• Leader: Subinay Malhotra
• Partner: College of Design
• Funding: $100,000

Contemporizing Calculus Course Content

• Leader: Eric Weber
• Partner: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Funding: $100,000

Business AI Learning Center

• Leader: Rui Chen
• Partner: Ivy College of Business
• Funding: $100,000

Game Design Learning Lab Room Redesign

• Leader: Lisa Smith
• Partner: University Library
• Funding: $50,000

Plant-powered Health: Harnessing Plant Biology for Human Wellness

• Leader: Amy Burgin
• Partner: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Funding: $90,000

AI-Enabled Tutoring and Applied Learning in CALS

• Leaders: Karl Kerns, Elnaz Ebrahimi
• Partner: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• Funding: $100,000

Developing a Master's Program in Biotechnology and Genome Engineering

• Leader: Dior Kelley
• Partners: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Funding: $100,000
•  

Operationalizing a University Wide Custom and Executive Education Initiative

• Leader: Ann Marie VanDerZanden
• Partners: Provost's Office, ISU Extension and Outreach, Ivy College of Business
• Funding: $150,000

Strengthening Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Education through a Unique Collaboration between Biomedical Engineering and Veterinary Medicine

• Leaders: Sid Pathak, Ian Schneider
• Partners: College of Engineering, College of Veterinary Medicine
• Funding: $50,000

Digital and Precision Agriculture Micro-credential Program

• Leader: Matt Darr
• Partners: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Engineering
• Funding: $150,000

Transforming Animal Enterprise Education

• Leader: Jason Ross
• Partner: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• Funding: $200,000

Establishing a Bachelor's Degree Program in AI

• Leader: Sam Xin
• Partner: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Funding: $100,000

Deploying AI Agents to Supplement the Admissions Workforce

• Leader: Ben Carlson
• Partner: Enrollment Management
• Funding: $100,000

Facilitating Growth in Certificate and Coursework-only Master's Degrees

• Leaders: Natalie Robinson, Michelle Soupir
• Partner: Graduate College
• Funding: $100,000

Launching the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree

• Leader: Dawn Bowker
• Partner: College of Health and Human Sciences
• Funding: $100,000
•  

Campus-Community Engagement with the Integrated GivePulse Platform

• Leader: Greg Welk
• Partner: College of Health and Human Sciences
• Funding: $100,000

AIM-CERTS: AI Literacy Micro-credentials for Educational Resilience and Translational Skills

• Leader: Aditya Balu
• Partner: Translational AI Center (TrAC)
• Funding: $100,000

STEM Gateway Micro-credentials

• Leader: Jonnie Becker
• Partner: ISU Extension and Outreach
• Funding: $100,000

Infusing AI into the Undergraduate Curricula Across the College of Engineering

• Leader: Sriram Sundararajan
• Partner: College of Engineering
• Funding: $100,000

Research and Innovation Video Accelerator

• Leader: Peter Dorhout
• Partner: Office of the Vice President for Research
• Funding: $100,000

Future-Ready Educators: Transformative AI Infusion Across Teacher Preparation and Professional Learning

• Leader: Evrim Baran
• Partner: College of Health and Human Sciences
• Funding: $100,000

AI for Science Foundry: An Ames Lab-TrAC Partnership for Autonomous Discovery in Critical Materials and Magnetism

• Leader: James Morris
• Partner: U.S. Department of Energy Ames National Laboratory
• Funding: $100,000