Call for Proposals

View the call for proposals for specialized teaching and learning laboratories that will provide faculty with state of the art teaching for teaching, scholarship, and outreach. These labs will also provide students with learning experiences that build upon highly demanded soft and hard skill development.

Link to Teaching & Learning Labs at UIS: Now and in the Future video tour

Step 1: Informal Conversations

  • What types of teaching and learning laboratory facilities would facilitate and elevate the quality and impact of active and engaged teaching and learning that you are currently unable to provide for your students?
  • What other allied or affiliated academic programs or professionals on campus might be approached and engaged in this conversation?
  • How would this proposed lab facility enhance both the academic quality and academic distinctiveness of your programs and UIS/
  • To what extent would these facilities attract potential students to your programs and UIS as a destination of choice?

Step 2: Request Formal Recognition

As faculty working groups submit proposals and receive formal recognition that there is enough perceived merit in the exploration of the concept to advance to the planning step, they will be listed below to avoid duplication of effort. The Formal Recognition step is intended to provide feedback early enough in the process that valuable faculty and department time and effort are not invested in proposals that are unlikely to be implemented. Formal proposals should be submitted to Dr. Cecilia Cornell.

Formally Recognized Working Groups

  • UIS Freshwater Pollution Lab: Anne-Marie Hanson, Thomas Rothfus
  • Lighting Studio/Education Lab: Brytton Bjorngaard, Kathy Petitte Novak, Ann Strahle, Dathan Powell, Clay Stalter, Cody Pope

Step 3: Planning

The Planning step is a more focused and comprehensive examination of the proposed lab to revitalize the teaching and learning, scholarship, and service of the engaged faculty and departments. This step will likely lead to identification of efficiencies and synergies that have implications for how we approach teaching and learning at the level of curriculum, how we fully engage teaching, scholarship, and outreach talent and expertise both within and between units, and how we better prepare students for a lifetime of opportunities in an evolving economy and workplace.

The Planning step should also involve exploration and, when possible, site visits of comparable high-performing facilities implemented at other institutions. The support team for the Planning step includes:

  • Cecilia Cornell, AVCGE, who will serve as primary contact for working groups, manage campus and working group communications, and facilitate connections with the right problem-solving personnel on campus.
  • Kara McElwrath, ITS, who will assist in identifying comparable facilities and with developing any technical specifications associated with the proposed facility.
  • Jerry Joseph, CFO, who will assist with coordination of budget planning, including costs associated with space, renovation, and technology acquisition.
  • Jeff Lorber, Foundation, who will provide advice about potential for securing individual and/or corporate donations for sponsorship or naming rights to provide excellence at the margins and will serve as liaison to the Office of Advancement.

Step 4: Requesting Formal Review

At the conclusion of the Planning Step, the fully developed plan should be submitted to the VCAA and
Provost. The Provost will share the proposal with the Deans& Directors Council to evaluate the
proposal’s merit. If meritorious, the project will be prioritized and placed in the queue for implementation
pending the availability of strategic reinvestment resources. There will likely be several projects in the
queue at any given time awaiting resources from the annual refreshment of the Strategic Reinvestment
Fund.

UIS Commitment – The Strategic Revitalization Fund

UIS has committed to constructing a Strategic Revitalization Fund that will provide support for the planning and implementation of approved proposals. These revitalization funds are to be used for space renovation, technology acquisition, and training.