SUBJECT:

Strategic Academic Program Development (SAPD) Initiative: Request for Proposals (RFP)

Dear Colleagues,

As you may be aware, UC San Diego has launched the Strategic Academic Program Development (SAPD) initiative to support the development of novel academic offerings. Details about the initiative, resources available to support participants, and a request for proposals describing programs you would like to develop are all available at http://sapd.ucsd.edu (Single Sign On log in is required).

The objectives of this initiative are to enhance the experience and outcomes of students, strengthen UC San Diego’s reputation in research and education, and grow institutional revenues to help sustain investments in the education and research enterprise. An increasingly competitive environment, evolving learner demand, financial pressures at the state and federal levels, and technological advances all require that universities expand the variety and modalities of educational programs offered.

Having established the underlying strategy with significant faculty input, we are now launching a campus-wide request for innovative program proposals (RFP). The objective of the RFP is to solicit ideas and invite participation in SAPD from faculty and academic units. The RFP is structured as three sub-calls to channel our collective efforts:
1) Graduate offerings (credit and non-credit)
2) Concurrent enrollment
3) Summer programs (credit and non-credit)

We have put in place dedicated resources to support faculty and academic units in proposal and program development. I invite you to learn more about SAPD and the RFP at http://sapd.ucsd.edu (Single Sign On log in is required).

Faculty and academic units are invited to submit by May 11, 2018, a draft response via one or more of the three RFP forms, including a draft model of program finances (SAPD Financial Model) for each offering. At this point, the SAPD Support Team (SST), led by Dr. Williams Ettouati will conduct a preliminary review of the submissions and identify questions and opportunities for strengthening the proposals. Proponents will then be asked to submit by June 1, 2018, a refined response to the RFP for each offering, again including the SAPD Financial Model. The first wave of successful offerings will be identified before the summer break.

We look forward to working with you to extend the educational excellence of UC San Diego through an expanded set of innovative curricular and delivery opportunities. Please contact the SAPD Support Team with any questions or concerns at sapd@ucsd.edu.

Elizabeth H. Simmons Executive Vice Chancellor