Innovative Learning Technology Initiative Competitions – 2017

September 27, 2016

I am pleased to announce that the UC system-wide Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI) is inviting proposals for on-line and “hybrid” courses. ILTI courses employ innovative learning technologies to create engaging educational opportunities for UC students by helping them gain access to impacted courses, satisfy degree requirements, and graduate on time. Ladder-rank faculty, Lecturers with Security of Employment (LSOEs), and Lecturers with the Potential for Security of Employment (LPSOEs) are encouraged to submit proposals as Principal Investigators (PIs) for fully online courses and/or hybrid courses designed to be offered during the academic year across multiple campuses and without any additional fees to students. Unit 18 Continuing Lecturers are encouraged to submit proposals in collaboration with Academic Senate PI’s. PI’s may submit as an individual or a team, a department chair, or a department’s undergraduate curriculum chair. Departments are encouraged to think about how they could use instructional technology to deliver their curriculum in innovative ways and respond to enrollment pressures.

ILTI is funding two separate competitions: a system-wide RFP, and a separate RFP limited to UCSB course proposals only. The maximum award for the system-wide ILTI competition is $110K per course. No specific award maximum has been set for the UCSB-only competition; the quality and number of submissions will determine the number and amount of campus awards. The deadline for submitting proposals to both of the competitions is May 31, 2017, by 6:00PM PST.

Please note two important changes in the ILTI program. For the first time, ILTI will fund hybrid courses: courses that utilize online components, consistent with the goals and multi-campus dimension of the program, that are not fully online. In addition, the crosscampus offering requirement has changed for quarter-system campuses. Whereas previously ILTI courses had to be offered five times in three years, it is now allowable to offer courses five times in five years during the academic year. Summer offerings are allowed but do not count toward the offering requirement.

Proposals for both hybrid course development and fully online courses will be accepted in this round. For both competitions, proposals will be accepted for requests to support:

1. transforming a face-to-face course to a hybrid or fully online course;
2. transforming a hybrid course to a fully online course;
3. developing an entirely new fully online or hybrid course.

Successful applicants must commit to offering the ILTI-funded courses five times over a five-year period. The fully online courses funded by both competitions must be open to enrollment by students from across the UC system, while the hybrid courses funded must have their digitized components made available through a UC hosted content management repository for any UC faculty who wish to use them in undergraduate courses.

Applicants for both the system-wide and local competitions are required to include a letter of support from their Department Chairs. Department Chairs must review the proposals with their Deans prior to providing a letter of support to the PI(s). Although the Deans will not evaluate the proposals in detail prior to their submission, Chairs should consult with their Deans on the proposed courses in the context of the department’s curricular plan. In addition, all ILTI-funded courses must win UCSB Academic Senate approval.

The system-wide competition proposals will be evaluated by a committee of students, faculty, and staff from multiple UC campuses and the Office of the President. This committee will make recommendations to the ILTI Steering Committee (UC Provost and Academic Senate Leaders) for awards. Evaluation of the UCSB-only competition will be undertaken by UCSB’s ILTI Coordinating Committee. This committee will make recommendations to me for awards. Proposals for a specific course may be submitted to both competitions simultaneously, but proposals that win funding through the systemwide competition will become ineligible for funding through the UCSB-only competition.

For more information regarding the system-wide ILTI competition, please visit:

http://www.ucop.edu/innovative-learning-technology-initiative/proposals/index.html

For more information regarding the UCSB-only ILTI competition, please visit: https://evc.ucsb.edu/innovative.learning.technology.initiative/request.for.proposals

Thank you.