The Center for Academic Innovation has opened calls for proposals across a variety of disciplines that align with the center’s work, including educational technology adoption funding, support for creating open online courses, online and hybrid degree program portfolio development, and educational research.
The center provides financial support and in-kind support to help University of Michigan faculty and staff develop innovative projects. Each call for proposal has project priorities, submission requirements and deadlines for final proposals.
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Staff at the center are also available to consult on potential projects, offering consultation services by appointment or through open office hours. Learn more about each open call for proposal below, and additional details about submission guidelines, procedures, and consultation with the center is available at the center’s Academic Innovation Fund page.
Educational research
Faculty, students, and staff are invited to apply for research grants, with the following research areas receiving prioritization: large language models like ChatGPT and its potential as an effective teaching tool in the classroom; open learning in support of undergraduate student success, impact of CAI’s educational technologies on student experiences; evaluating student curricular experiences through an equity lens.
Submission deadline: March 15. Learn more about this project.
Educational technology
Educational technology adoption funds and support are available to faculty and staff for awarded projects that utilize the following tools: GradeCraft, learning management software that supports gameful instruction; Lettersmith, writing support software that provides structured guidance and encourages metacognition; Problem Roulette, a study tool for helping students through practicing real exam problems in previous courses; and Tandem, software that helps instructors and groups manage teamwork by creating a place to get feedback and engage with tailored lessons.
Submission deadline: May 5, and consultation with the educational technology team is encouraged prior to submitting a proposal. Learn more about this project.
Online and hybrid degree programs
Academic units are invited to partner with the center to develop an online degree program portfolio. Strong proposals will identify opportunities where a fully online or hybrid degree program is complemented by non-credit open online content with the intention to broaden reach and interest in education at the University of Michigan.
Submission deadline: May 12, and consultations with center staff are required prior to submitting a proposal. Center staff will help with a portfolio concept and proposal draft. Learn more about this project.
Open online courses
Faculty are invited to submit proposals for massive open online courses for Michigan Online and partner platforms that provide the knowledge and expertise to empower learners and support the development of a resilient global workforce. Awarded proposals are eligible to receive a faculty stipend, in-kind course development support from the center, and potential shared revenue generated from the course or course series. Priority focus areas include tech skills, data science and analytics, and human skills that encourage leadership, teamwork, project management, critical thinking, and problem solving.
Submission deadline: March 31, and the center is available for consultation appointments to discuss potential projects. Learn more about this project.
