Provost Academic Update

Monthly news, updates, events, and accomplishments for academic leaders in the university community. 

Please share the information below with faculty, staff, and students in your area as appropriate.

2024 EARO Year in Review

This External Awards and Recognition Office (EARO) report highlights national honors for UI faculty and the strategic outreach, events, and development initiatives encouraging faculty excellence at Iowa over the past year.

Improving SPOT Response Rates

This article offers instructors three ways they can improve end-of-course feedback survey response rates by taking a few minutes to explain to their students how the surveys work and why their feedback matters.

Resources and Announcements

SDS accommodations in ICON Quizzes
Instructors who use ICON Classic Quizzes no longer need to manually adjust the time allowed on quizzes for students who use extended time accommodations.

UI launches new Student Experience Survey
Faculty and staff are encouraged to help promote a new campuswide survey aiming to gather insights into academic satisfaction, belonging, and financial considerations for students at Iowa.

Summer 2025 Teaching in Higher Education Conference Award
Applications are due April 16 for this award supporting faculty and staff who plan to attend a conference related to teaching between June and August 2025.

Scholarly Teaching Program
This program helps teaching-focused faculty explore teaching practices, engage in cross-disciplinary discussions, and attend a national teaching conference. Applications are due April 21.

SoTL Scholars Program
This program provides funding for a cohort of faculty to design, implement, and share their research on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Applications are due April 21.

Investment in Strategic Priorities
Requests for up to $5,000 in support from this fund for faculty to bring research or scholarly projects to a close are due by April 21 and must be submitted by collegiate associate deans. 

Honorary degrees
Nominations for honorary degree recipients for the 2025-2026 academic year are due to provost-office@uiowa.edu by May 1, 2025.

Events and Workshops

DEO Workshop: Managing Up, Down, and Sideways
Wednesday, April 9, 8 – 9:30 a.m., via Zoom
This workshop will provide DEOs with the tools to manage, practice leadership, and craft leadership strategies.

DEO Workshop: Meeting Management
Wednesday, April 30, 8 – 9:30 a.m., via Zoom
Attend this workshop to learn best practices for managing meetings, including choosing settings, when to meet, and framing the meeting agenda. 

Leaders in Discovery: Modeling Climate Science and Earth Systems with Lai-yung Ruby Leung
Monday, April 14, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., Iowa Memorial Union International Ballroom
All are invited to this lecture from internationally recognized atmospheric scientist L. Ruby Leung. 

Book Matters: University of Iowa Author Celebration
Tuesday, April 15, 4:30 – 6 p.m., Old Capitol Museum
This event will celebrate faculty and staff who have published books since spring 2023 and includes readings by two scholars who have recently authored books.

Developing a Summer Writing Plan
Friday, April 18, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
This interactive session – featuring Writing Center Director Carol Severino – aims to provide faculty insights on successful scholarly writing.

NSF CAREER Recent Awardee Panel Session
Friday, April 18, 11 a.m. – noon, virtual
Recent CAREER Award recipients will share their experiences with the application process and more during this panel session.

NSF Broader Impacts Fair
Wednesday, April 23, noon - 2 p.m., UCC
This event connects researchers with campus resources to develop partnerships for NSF Broader Impacts activities. 

Connecting K-12 and Higher Education Conference
April 25-26, Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa
This free conference brings together stakeholders from K-12 and higher education to discuss effective learning and teaching practices. 

Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Symposium
Thursday, May 1, 3:30 - 5 p.m., IMU Big Ten Theatre
Attend this event for enlightening 15-minute presentations from each of the members of the 2023-2026 Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholars cohort.

University of Iowa Faculty and Staff Awards
Tuesday, May 6, 4 - 6:30 p.m., Hancher Auditorium
Come celebrate the fantastic work University of Iowa faculty and staff have accomplished throughout the year at this campuswide award ceremony.

Celebrating Academic Excellence

Four UI faculty elected to latest class of AAAS fellows
Robert Piper, Clark Stanford, Tina Tootle, and Joshua Weiner have been named 2024 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general-scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Seven faculty selected for NAM Emerging Leaders Forum
Seven UI faculty members have been invited to the National Academy of Medicine's (NAM) 2025 Emerging Leaders Forum in Washington, D.C.

Four faculty receive Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Awards
Mihailis Diamantis, Korey Kennelty, Andrea Luangrath, and Kara Whitaker have been selected as recipients of the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Awards for 2025.

Three UI faculty honored with Michael J. Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service
David Cwiertny, Steve Duck, and Travis Kraus are the 2025 recipients of the Michael J. Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service.

Five UI faculty honored with Hubbard-Walder Award
Paula Amad, Justin Cosner, Julie Gros-Louis, Jennifer Sterling, and Lori Wallrath were selected for the 2025 Hubbard-Walder Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Biology and anthropology student named 2025 Goldwater Scholar
Seren Castellano, a third-year student from Waukee, Iowa, is the University of Iowa's 64th recipient of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

UI Faculty Focus profile for April:

• Samantha Barbas, Aliber Family Chair in Law and professor in the College of Law
• Ayotunde O. Dokun, FOEDRC Verna Funke Chair in Diabetes Research, director and professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine

You can find more examples of academic excellence from around the university on the Office of the Provost website.