OFFICE OF THE ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR,
EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION

April 3, 2025

ALL ACADEMICS AT UC SAN DIEGO

As part of UC San Diego and UC Online's ongoing efforts to align with campus and systemwide goals, each UC undergraduate campus was awarded block funding to support online teaching and learning initiatives. Though a smaller amount than in previous years, this program is a critical element to better serving students and doing the necessary work to make available more online and hybrid coursework for our students. The new process gives each campus authority to set its own priorities and define its own process for resource allocation through the campus liaisons.

For 2025-26, UC San Diego requests proposals for funding course development projects that:

AI Innovation Pilot

Separately a pool of funding is set aside for faculty who wish to pilot the use of AI, through the ASPIRE program, in their classes. ASPIRE is integrated into Canvas (by Fall 2025) and designed to assist faculty in the design and delivery of their courses by offering feedback on course materials and course structure, and offering to help faculty develop study guides, sample exams, pre/post lecture quizzes, and answer student questions on Piazza. The pilot will focus on evaluating the value to students and faculty, and how to improve the workflow for faculty. Faculty may request a stipend of up to $1,500 to be part of this study.

Please submit a proposal form and accompanying budget for an online/hybrid course development project. The maximum award per course project will be $45K. Funded projects will receive support from Digital Learning in the Teaching and Learning Commons. Instructors who receive online course development funding will be required to participate in the Online Teaching Academy launching in summer.

For participation in the ASPIRE pilot, the maximum stipend is $1,500, depending on the size of the class.

Note: Each PI may submit one proposal for each funding opportunity (UC Online and AI Innovation Pilot). If applying to both opportunities, submit this form twice.

Timeline:

Please contact Jen Schwedler, Executive Director for Online Learning, at jschwedler@ucsd.edu with any questions. We look forward to receiving your project requests.

Carlos Jensen
Associate Vice Chancellor, Educational Innovation