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FINAL ROUND ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAM GRANT RFP
An eLearning Innovation Initiative (eLII) Opportunity
Program Announcement, revised 05/15/2015
The Office of the Provost, Analytics and Technologies (AT) and the Center for the Enhancement of
Learning and Teaching (CELT) invite colleges and departments to apply for the third and final round of
funding to support the development of innovative, technology-rich pedagogy and learning strategies to
address needs in a constantly changing learning environment via new online degree programs.
eLII Online Degree Program Priorities:
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First consideration will be given to undergraduate degree completion programs
Fully online programs
Hybrid programs with significant online components (+50% online)
UK-only or consortia programs involving multi-institutional collaboration
All content will follow universal design and accessibility best practices
eLII Online Degree Program Goals:
 Improve student learning outcomes, student success, engagement and retention
 Enhance UK curricular offerings and overall UK competitiveness in instruction
 Support departments and faculty who wish to expand instructional methods and/or academic
programs
 Support departments/colleges in the development of measurable and sustainable methods for
improving instructional delivery and learning outcomes for UK degree programs in all content
areas
 Implement quality assurance methodology and continuous improvement of effective and efficient
instruction
 Incorporate quality course design using Quality Matters as a guide.
 Address the diversity of today’s learners through Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Eligibility:
 Degree programs and/or certificate programs
 New or existing degree programs which will become online through this grant that have not
started work; (or) new or existing degree programs that have begun the process to become an
online degree program; (or) new or existing degree programs that are well into the process of
becoming an online degree program.
Deadline:
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, Noon (Eastern)
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Proposal Format: (Use 12-point Times New Roman font, single-spaced with 1-inch margins)
Special Note: Be sure to visit the [eLII FAQ] page for helpful information:
I. Cover Sheet. Provided template must be used, [click here] to download.
II. Degree Program Description (500 words)
Describe the degree program as it currently exists. If launching an entirely new degree, state that it
will be a new degree and discuss your vision of the new degree program.
III. Plan of Project – sections A – F are limited to 20 pages.
A. Measurable Goals & Objectives
Identify goals and objectives to the design, development, implementation, and assessment of the degree
program.
B. Development & Implementation Timeline
A clear timeline for development and implementation should be presented in a table
format. It is understood that the full timeline will most likely exceed one year, beginning before and
continuing after the start-up grant funding year. It should include:
a. Milestones and Key Tasks/phases
b. Target/due dates for beginning and ending tasks/phases, achieving milestones (this
should include target date for development, target date for launch)
c. Individual responsible for assuring each item is complete
d. A list of courses to be developed
Sample:
Target Date
2/17/2014
2/20/2014
2/20/2014
2/20/2014
Responsible Milestone/Task/Deliverable
Julie Doe
Funding Began
Degree Change Form Preparation
John Doe
Begins
Distance Learning Form Preparation
Julie Doe
Begins
New Course Application for Course 1
Jason Doe Preparation Begins
2/20/2014
Jason Doe
2/20/2014
Jason Doe
Review Quality Matters (QM) Rubric
Plan for Integration of UDL and
Accessibility
Resources acquired
and/or required
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2/20/2014
John Doe
2/20/2014
Jason Doe
2/20/2014
Jane Doe
2/20/2014
John Doe
2/20/2014
Jane Doe
2/20/2014
3/30/2014
4/1/2014
5/19/2014
5/30/2014
5/30/2014
Jenny Doe
Jenny Doe
Jane Doe
Jane Doe
Julie Doe
Jason Doe
5/30/2014
Jason Doe
6/1/2014
Jenny Doe
7/1/2014
Julie Doe
7/30/2014
Jenny Doe
8/1/2014
John Doe
8/1/2014
Jane Doe
8/1/2014
8/18/2014
11/17/2014
Julie Doe
Julie Doe
Jenny Doe
12/31/2014
Jenny Doe
Development of Standard Course
Template for Development in
Blackboard for all Courses Begins
Course Development Assistance for
Faculty Begins
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 2 Begins
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 3 Begins
Development of & Revisions to
Website Begins
Development of Promotional
Materials Begins
External Consultant Recruited
Marketing Campaign Launched
1st Quarter Report, Year 1 Submitted
Degree Change Form Submitted
Distance Learning Forms Submitted
Standard Course Template for
Development in Blackboard for all
Courses Completed
Web Development for Interactive
Content Begins
Development of Assessment &
Research Tools Begins
New Course Application for Course 1
Submitted
F2F Assessment, Lecture Capture &
Review for Development Begins for
Course 2
F2F Assessment, Lecture Capture &
Review for Development Begins for
Course 3
F2F Assessment, Lecture Capture &
Review for Development Begins for
Course 4
2nd Quarter Report, Year 1 Submitted
3rd Quarter Report, Year 1 Submitted
F2F Assessment, Lecture Capture &
Review for Development Completed
for Course 2
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12/31/2014
Jason Doe
12/31/2014
Jane Doe
12/31/2014
John Doe
12/31/2014
Jane Doe
1/1/2015
1/1/2015
1/1/2015
Julie Doe
Jason Doe
Jane Doe
1/1/2015
2/16/2015
5/18/2015
5/31/2015
5/31/2015
8/1/2015
8/1/2015
Jenny Doe
John Doe
John Doe
Julie Doe
Jenny Doe
Jane Doe
Julie Doe
12/31/2015
12/31/2015
Jane Doe
Jenny Doe
12/31/2015
John Doe
12/31/2015
12/31/2015
Julie Doe
John Doe
1/1/2016
John Doe
1/1/2016
Jason Doe
2/28/2016
Jenny Doe
2/28/2016
Jason Doe
2/28/2016
Jane Doe
2/28/2016
Jason Doe
F2F Assessment, Lecture Capture &
Review for Development Completed
for Course 3
F2F Assessment, Lecture Capture &
Review for Development Completed
for Course 4
Development of & Revisions to
Website Completed
Development of Promotional
Materials Completed
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 2 Begins
Course 3 Online Course Launched
Course 5 Online Course Launched
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 4 Begins
4th Quarter Report, Year 1 Submitted
Year 1 Full Report, Year 1 Submitted
Course 3 Online Course Completed
Course 5 Online Course Completed
Course 2 Online Course Launched
Course 4 Online Course Launched
Web Development for Interactive
Content Completed
Course 2 Online Course Completed
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 3 Completed
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 5 Completed
Course 4 Online Course Completed
Course 3 Online Course (2nd offering)
Launched
Course 5 Online Course (2nd offering)
Launched
Course Development Assistance for
Faculty Ends
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 2 Completed
Online Content Development/Revision
by Faculty for Course 4 Completed
Development of Assessment &
Research Tools Completed
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2/28/2016
Jenny Doe
Marketing Campaign Concludes
If a degree program has not already been approved, the applicant must show within the
development and implementation timeline and the sustainability plan a clear understanding of
the degree program approval processes (i.e. departmental curriculum committee review, college
councils, Senate, CPE, SACS, etc.) and an understanding of the length of time/commitment involved
in getting the needed approvals – which will often times exceed the life of the grant.
Include assessment and evaluation items in this timeline.
C. Assessment & Evaluation Plan
Describe a clear plan for how the program’s outcomes and effectiveness will be measured over time
and what measurement intervals will be required. This plan should also include a Program
Assessment section to reflect how success of the grant will be measured and determined. This should
reflect a plan to measure success of the Student Success Criteria section of this document.
D. Program Design
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Describe how the program will structure the student learning experience through quality online
interactions with the course materials, instructors, faculty and other students.
Describe the technologies to be used and how they will be incorporated in the design and delivery
of the online degree program. This should be covered in-depth.
Describe how course materials and overall instructional quality will be reviewed during
development
E. Student Success Criteria
Describe how transforming the degree program to an online setting will:
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Make a significant improvement on student retention and graduation
Enable strategic growth in enrollment
Improve DEW rates
Ensure student learning outcomes equal to or exceeding existing face-to-face instruction
Help with courses that have struggled with meeting demand such as irregularly scheduled
classes or classes with insufficient sections
Meet the majority of student needs through the implementation of UDL principles and strategies
F. Return on Investment & Sustainability Plan
Illustrate how the program will increase cost-effectiveness and provide a thorough plan for return-oninvestment. Develop a program business case that outlines the costs, benefits, other funding sources, if
applicable, such as college or grant funds, return on investment and payback period. This should include
a projection of student enrollment. It is understood that the UK financial landscape is changing greatly
with the implementation of the University’s new budget model and that the university may be
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reconsidering pricing structure for traditional vs. online courses, in–state vs. out–of–state, etc. As such it
is understood your proposal will reflect the University’s current state/structure.
Grant funds are start-up funds and will be awarded for a duration of no longer than one year. Proposals
need to describe a long-term sustainability plan to ensure the degree program is completely developed
and delivered within a reasonable timeframe, if not before the end of the 1 year grant award. The
applicant must present a clear case that their College/Department is supportive of this program and will
sustain the program financially, in-full, after grant funding ends; as well as fund the accessibility of
instructional materials, if not integrated as part of the development of the course content or content is
revised/updated. This sentiment should be echoed in the letters provided as part of this application.
G. Budget and Budget Justification (No more than 4 pages total)
It is expected that up to 2 programs will be selected and will be funded up to $200,000 for a one year
period. CELT and AT will provide in-kind resources and support (e.g., technical course development,
instructional design, systems integration, assessment, and project management).
Funding can be used for faculty FTE supplementation, course overload, or summer salary for course
preparation, external course content development costs, department project
management, stipends for faculty assessment, use of college/department student interns,
etc. to assist. Facility renovation costs and indirect costs are not part of these funds. For
applicants budgeting a graduate assistant and/or student assistant for the project 100% of
the costs associated with that student must be funded by the eLII project (i.e. wage, health
insurance, tuition). The hiring of a student to assist with the eLII project should not incur any additional
fees to the applicant’s department or any other unit/department/college. Fully online program
development costs are likely to be higher than what is in this budget.
Examples of acceptable costs include professional development, software, hardware, video production,
closed captioning, instructional design, personnel, project management, graphics, etc.
For each budget line item please provide a detailed justification of why the item is needed, what it will be
used for, how the expense will benefit the project, why the expense is necessary to complete the project,
etc.
You must use the budget template provided [here]. Your budget and budget justification should be
completed in collaboration with your unit budget manager. Your college’s budget officer’s signature is
required on the cover page to acknowledge that all information provided is accurate (i.e. base salary,
health insurance rate, quotes for potential purchases have been obtained from university approved
vendors, university procedures have been used to estimate travel costs for professional development,
etc.). All university Administrative Regulations should be followed when determining if overload pay is
appropriate.
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While developed for external proposals [OSPA’s Useful Information] webpage has helpful budget
information you may find relevant.
I. Letters
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Department Chair. A letter of support from the applicant’s department chair/school director must
be provided. In order to provide the review committee with additional information on which to
base a funding decision, department chairs/school directors are invited to provide comments on
the importance of the proposal plan to the college/department, school, or college strategic plan.
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Course Instructors and Chairs. For each course that makes up the degree program, an
instructor of that course must provide a letter of commitment to this project. If a course instructor
falls outside of the primary applicant’s home department, an additional letter of support is required
from that course instructor’s chair.
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Dean. A letter of commitment from the applicant’s Dean must be provided. This letter should
provide comments on the importance of the proposed plan to the college/department, school, or
college strategic plan - in order to provide the review committee with additional information on
which to base a funding decision. Letters of Commitment from Dean’s outside the applicant’s
college are required, if all program/course instructors are not housed within the applicant’s
college.
Submission Procedure:
 In order to assure that the proper approvals have been obtained final grant applications must be
submitted by the Dean’s office in your college, as one merged PDF file submission (PDF
portfolio submissions are not permitted). Final submissions should be made to
[email protected], with the subject line of “Degree Grant: (Last Name of Applicant).” An
email confirmation that the proposal submission has been received will be sent within 48 hours.
 All proposals need: (1) Department Chair approval, (2) College Budget Officer Approval and,
(3) College Dean approval before consideration can be given.
Review Procedure:
 Written reviews will be prepared by a review panel. See how your application will be scored [here].
 The committee will be comprised of at minimum 51% UK faculty members.
 Applicants should keep in mind that the review committee members may represent a variety of
disciplines and therefore, proposals should be written without excessive jargon and in a style that is
clear to reviewers who are not experts in the specified area.
 Recommendations for funding will be presented to the Academic Computing Committee and Provost
Office for approval.
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 Final recommendations for funding will then be distributed to the appropriate Dean(s) for approval
before an award is made. Awards and award distribution is contingent upon the final approval of the
Dean of the awardee’s college.
 Applicants will be notified of the decision soon thereafter.
Post-award Requirements:
 Funding recipients must submit a final report, in the form of a white paper, within 90 days of award
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expiration. A template will be provided.
Funding recipients will be required to submit a quarterly status and budget report throughout the
funding period.
Funding recipients will be required to participate in a project kick-off meeting at the beginning of the
project and an exit interview at the conclusion of the project.
Funding recipients will be required to participate in a bi-weekly, 15-minute, online project
management meeting to discuss their project.
Funding recipients will be required to participate in eLII Program Evaluation activities for 5 years
post-award.
Funding recipients must obtain CITI Research Certification within the first 10 days of award and email
certification of completion to the Grant Project Manager (https://www.citiprogram.org/)
Funding recipients much strive to create courses that meet accessibility standards/guidelines (or
legislative requirements).
Failure to submit reports will result in funding being withdrawn and will preclude future awards.
Failure to show work progress and assessment as proposed in the grant application, or to conform to
post-award reporting requirements may result in immediate termination of award.
Support from this program should be acknowledged in all publications resulting from the funded
research (“supported in part by a grant from University of Kentucky eLearning Innovation Initiative”).
In addition, this office should be notified if support through this program leads to funding or
publications any time in the future.
For questions contact:
Jennifer Edwards, MPH, PMP
Grant Program Manager
[email protected]