Supporting innovation in academic program development
Part of the college's Strategic Investment Program, the Curiosity to Impact Fund empowers LAS faculty to transform bold ideas into high-impact academic offerings. Designed to support the creation of new courses, certificates, and programs—especially those with revenue-generating potential—C2I fuels innovation that expands access, deepens inquiry, and drives institutional growth.
This initiative supports a broad range of academic innovations, including:
- Online Graduate Degree, Non-Degree, and Certificate Programs
- Stackable Non-Degree Programs
- Target professionals, lifelong learners, and other non-traditional students
- Cultivate new or under-utilized revenue streams
- Platforms: Accredible, Canvas Catalog, Coursera
- Explore Innovative Ways to Reach New Students
- Scaling up the NetMath model to other subjects
- Explore offering dual-credit courses to high-achieving high school students in under-resourced areas in rural or urban communities, where AP and DC options are severely limited
- Develop a continuing education credit model for professionals
- Forward Thinking Curricula Innovation
- Incorporate AI into the classroom
- Modernize and refresh existing academic programs to ensure they remain relevant, rigorous, and engaging
- Foster creativity in curriculum design to revitalize majors or programs of study
- Design new majors that align with emerging fields and student interests
- General Education Course Development
- Create new Gen Ed courses that reflect emerging topics, interdisciplinary approaches, or innovative teaching methods to attract enrollment
- Refresh current GenEds to better meet student interests and needs
- Engage in formalizing the recommendations of the Liberal Arts Certificate Committee
- Propose new Gen Ed themes that align with LAS values and strengths
Proposals are due by March 2, 2026. Please keep an eye on this page for a link to the application, which will be available soon.
Proposal components
All proposals must include the following:
- Program Description and Objectives
- Need and Impact
- Sustainability
- Budget (attach using the required template)
- Expected Return on Investment
- Timeline for submission in the Course and Curriculum Information Management (CIM) system
- Staffing and administrative support plans
- Course offering plans and timing
If your proposal involves a new or revised academic program, please also include:
Additional Requirements for New Major Proposals:
- Evidence of already developed courses relevant to the proposed major.
- Evidence of student demand through enrollment figures in related courses.
- Analysis of how the proposed major will compete with peer institutions (UIC, Northwestern, Iowa, UMich, Purdue), including differentiation and attractiveness to prospective students.
- Discussion of the new major's relationship to existing majors within the department, including plans for maintaining or adjusting enrollment across programs.
- Assessment of the impact on allied majors and inclusion of letters of support for Senate Approval Process.
- Historical data on course enrollments and alumni engagement in related fields.
- Discussion of enrollment planning and potential sunsetting of less in-demand majors.
Optional Guidance for Broader Program Development:
- Consider proposals for interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, or cross-college majors that leverage shared curricula and resources.
- Explore opportunities for majors that appeal to students with broad interests, such as merging business and humanities or developing pre-health/pre-medicine tracks.
- Encourage development of 2-year transfer-friendly majors to support internal and external transfer students, including alignment with programs like Parkland Pathway and Transfer Guarantee.