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

Classroom of students engaged in group learning

UI adopts new framework for the assessment of teaching

As part of the university’s strategic plan efforts to support excellence in teaching and learning, the Office of the Provost and the Teaching Effectiveness Task Force have developed updated guidance on the comprehensive assessment of teaching at the University of Iowa.

UI team receives $400,000 NSF grant to enhance engineering education

Jennifer Fiegel, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, and Shaun Vecera, director of the UI Honors Program, have received a three-year, $400,000 grant to integrate cognitive science-based strategies into engineering courses.

Elevating SoTL at Iowa

P3 funding aims to advance faculty and student success by promoting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at Iowa. As part of efforts to build campus-wide awareness and engagement with SoTL, the UI is hosting a SoTL Institute on Oct. 18.

University of Iowa Strategic Plan

Excellence in Teaching and Learning Progress