Transforming Experiential Research and Education

Project Lead: Peter Damiano

Funding Approved: Fiscal Year 21 
Project Status: Completed  
Funded amount: $350,000   

The IowaRISE project supported efforts to increase experiential research and educational opportunities for UI students, faculty, and staff.  

Members of the project team developed a model for helping students progress through a series of experiences that would enhance their skills, confidence, and knowledge of how to build a successful career and life. Many of the activities the project focused on were based in the social sciences, with the potential to be applied and expanded to other disciplines. These activities included: 

  • Pre-research training programs for students 
  • Financial and logistical support for faculty research teams 
  • Career and life discernment courses, including Explore Iowa, Life Design I, and Life Design II 
  • Mentoring through classes and alumni engagement 
  • Enhancing service-learning classes 
  • Improving access to experiential learning for first generation students, underrepresented minority students, and student veterans  

A few specific examples of outcomes from the project include: 

  • The development of six faculty-led research teams, which consisted of seven faculty leaders and 41 students in the 2021-22 academic year.  
  • Creating Badging Modules in ICON on topics like social science research, research methods, survey research, mentoring, website basics, podcasts and videos, and speaking skills.   
  • The Summer Policy Research Institute, which trained over 75 graduate and undergraduate students in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Students who participated in the institute left with the skills and knowledge to get involved in the research programs of faculty and staff investigators.  

Next Steps: 

The models and strategies developed through the IowaRise project will allow existing campus departments and units to integrate the activities into their ongoing operations, using their discipline specific expertise to tailor the methods to fit the needs and goals of their students, faculty, and staff.  

The Public Policy Center will also continue some aspects of IowaRISE that fall within their mission and are financially sustainable.