Excellence in Teaching and Learning Progress

Implementation Overview

Our goal is to create an environment where teaching and learning thrive, and where every student has the support and resources they need to succeed.

To accomplish this goal, we are executing strategies across six different areas consisting of teaching and learning, advising and guidance, high impact practices, mentoring, access and enrollment, and financial support and employment. Since starting the strategic plan, we launched several initiatives to support course and curriculum innovation, expand development opportunities for instructors, and promote an institutional culture that elevates teaching excellence. We also built on initiatives to enrich student learning experiences and expand opportunities for academic and career development.

See Our Progress

Key Metrics

4.5 %

increase in first-year retention rate since 2018

Strategic efforts to support student success are resulting in significant progress with retention and graduation rates

21,903

Combined Visits to the Academic Resource Center

For students participating in Supplemental Instruction in 2023-24

60

Community Engaged Courses in Spring 2024

Tagging courses that incorporate community engagement, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities helps students find and register for high-impact classes

$ 4.5M

increase in need-based scholarships and grants

awarded by the UI in the 2022-23 academic year

Highlights and Success

Supporting and empowering graduate students

The Graduate College’s GradLife Peer-to-Peer (P2P) mentoring program collaborated with International Programs' iPeer Mentorship Program to expand the reach and impact of peer mentoring programs for graduate students at Iowa. Following a successful first year of the program, GradLife P2P expanded in fall 2024 to include more students, earlier access to peer matches, a full calendar of events, and a "first meeting" event at Graduate and Professional Student Orientation.

244

students in Grad P2P Mentoring Program

The fall 2024 cohort tripled the number of students served by the program

Cancer researcher in the lab with students

Office of Undergraduate Research pilots collaborative research project

This pilot program funds team-based research or creative projects involving multiple undergraduates working together to solve problems. The first round of the program is supporting 14 faculty mentors working with 45 undergraduates from 10 departments across three colleges.

Student and professor working on a graphic design project

Strada grant expands career development access

A $300,000 grant from the Strada Education Foundation will support the expansion of the P3-funded Pathways to Success project. The grant will help scale the My Career Path tool, which provides students 24/7 access to career advice, planning, and reflection resources.

Bowman publishes P3-supported research on STEM course placement

Nicholas A. Bowman, Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education and professor of educational policy and leadership studies, published a paper in The Review of Higher Education on the impact of STEM course placement on the short- and long-term academic success of undergraduate students.

University of Iowa Strategic Plan

Excellence in Teaching and Learning Progress