ƽ Awarded $400,000 NSF Grant to Expand Innovation Partnerships
ƽ has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the program [ITE-2519806]. This competitive program supports colleges and universities in building capacity to engage with external partners and contribute to the U.S. innovation economy by working in cohorts to address similar challenges and opportunities.
ƽ’s project, titled “CREATE: Creating Research Enterprises Adapted for the Teaching Environment,” will strengthen the College’s ability to connect faculty and students with industry, nonprofit, and public sector partners while advancing research and teaching across disciplines. For this project, ƽ will be partnering with three other teaching-focused schools looking to advance similar goals—St. Michael's College (VT), Linfield University (OR), and National University (CA).
Building Collaborative Capacity
CREATE will focus on several key objectives to strengthen external connections and internal systems in support of stronger partnerships:
- Developing a clear and coordinated “front door” for external partnerships by bringing together the College’s offices and programs that already engage with outside collaborators.
- Partnering with Communications and Marketing to help share the contributions of ƽ faculty and students with potential partners.
- Creating sustainable systems to support faculty conducting industry-engaged research, while balancing faculty workload.
- Strengthening compliance processes related to intellectual property, international students, and other regulations.
The grant will be led by Assistant Vice President of Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations, Susan Ferrari; Director of the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership and Professor of Mathematics, Jeff Blanchard; Vice President of Community Engagement and Strategic Planning, Monica Chavez-Silva; and Associate Dean for Student Life and Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Andi Tracy. Expertise from across the College—including Communications & Marketing, Development and Alumni Relations, and the Center for Careers, Life, and Service—will collaborate to strengthen outreach to partners in Iowa and beyond, build sustainable support for faculty research, and enhance compliance processes to better connect faculty and students with opportunities beyond the College.
“This grant will serve as a tremendous catalyst to help bring our community partnerships to an exciting new level," said Chavez-Silva. “Small teaching-focused colleges like ƽ are well known as anchor institutions that contribute to the social and economic vitality in our surrounding communities. With this new grant, we can further expand our relationships with industry, nonprofit, and agency partners – strengthening our ability to collaborate on the shared goals of a vital innovation ecosystem.”
Advancing ƽ’s Strategic Plan
The CREATE initiative directly supports ƽ’s strategic plan, Knowledge Into Action, which emphasizes expanding partnerships across Iowa and beyond, while ensuring students and faculty have opportunities to apply their scholarship in the broader world.
“This grant couldn't come at a better time—while we've always had faculty members whose work has involved industry or other external partners, we've recently hired a number of new faculty members in fields like data science, AI, and materials science whose work presents new possibilities for real-world applications,” said Ferrari. “This grant will make it easier for our faculty members and their students to put their knowledge into action with partners beyond the academy.”
Strengthening Community Connections
For Blanchard, the EPIIC award resonates with the Wilson Center’s mission of innovation and community impact:
“The Wilson Center is thrilled to serve the College, the town of ƽ, Iowa and beyond in providing opportunities for engagement with innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurial programming,” said Blanchard. “Our students and faculty have a lot to offer, and the innovation and business community has a lot to offer. We’re excited to use this award to foster more productive connections between these two communities.”