Innovative Online Course Design (IOCD) Award
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The Instructional Design and Media Production Studio (IDMPS) invites applications for the 2025-2026 Innovative Online Course Design (IOCD) Award.
This award is UIC’s new self-nominated recognition program for innovative achievements by faculty in online course design. The IOCD Award acknowledges the contributions of faculty who produce innovative online, asynchronous courses, demonstrating outstanding commitment to student success. The 2025-2026 IOCD Award seeks to celebrate these efforts and disseminate best practices across the UIC community.
- Up to three awardees will be selected.
- Each recipient will receive a $1,000 one-time payment.
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- Awardees will be recognized in UIC public announcements, acknowledged at an IDMPS-sponsored event, and featured in IDMPS promotional materials.
- The Studio will showcase awarded courses as examples to inspire and encourage continuous high-quality course design practices across disciplines.
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Eligibility
To qualify, applicants must have:
- a minimum fifty-one percent appointment at UIC.
- taught at UIC for at least two academic years.
- worked with or are currently working with IDMPS to design an asynchronous online course (minimum three credits).
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- been the primary subject-matter expert involved in the design of one online course of at least three credits. Note that two co-faculty subject
- matter experts may apply together.
- designed a course that is primarily “online asynchronous” (i.e., optional synchronous sessions are permissible).
- taught at least once in the past two academic years at UIC.
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Submission Criteria
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- This is a self-nominated award program.
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- Faculty may only nominate one course for consideration, taught during 2023/2024 or 2024/2025. Submit based on a course taught during one of these academic years but not both.
Application Materials
Applicants need to complete an intent to apply form and submit an application.
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Intent to Apply
Applicants can express their intent to apply by completing a brief form with their name, email address, and course title, by September 15, 2025.
Application Materials
Applicants prepare a full application, including contact information, a design case, an innovation statement, and a walkthrough video. Submit application materials by October 15, 2025.
1. Contact Information. Provide your name, email address, and phone number.
2. Design Case. Summarize course features and design choices, represented in a 1-page format:
- Title. Provide the course name, number, and designer’s name.
- Description. Provide a brief overall description of the course (no more than 1 paragraph). Indicate if this was a new course or an improvement on a previous course.
- Topics. List of modules or topics in the course (can be done narratively in a paragraph to save space).
- Objectives. List the course objectives. Also, briefly describe your goals when setting out to design or improve this course. (can be done narratively in a paragraph to save space).
- Assessments. Provide a description of formative and summative assessments in the course.
- Activities. Provide a description of learning activities that students engage with in the course.
- Tools. Describe any tools, media, and technology that enhance learning opportunities for students or create new opportunities for learning.
- Appendices (optional). Include additional information or screenshots to support the explanations of course features and design choices.
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3. Innovation Statement. Write a 2-page explanation of creative solutions or new methods that are part of the makeup of this course. Explain how these design decisions support student success. For example, you could describe how a decision pushed the boundaries of best practices in online teaching and learning generally or in your discipline, or how the choice promoted student success.Share your predictions of how the innovative choices will be received by students when the course is taught. If you have already taught this course, compare the intentions behind the innovative decisions with the experience of the course being taught. Include data on success or outcomes, if available.
4. Walkthrough Video. Record a short video (no more than 5 minutes) that helps reviewers get a sense of what it is like to navigate your course. This is an opportunity to “demo” highlights of course innovations and designs. Record your video using a platform like Panopto to utilize screen capture and audio narration. Provide a link to the video (also possible with Panopto).
Applicants submit application materials in PDF format, with no more than 10 pages.
Timeline
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- Intent to apply deadline: Monday, September 15th, 2025
- Application deadline: Monday, October 15th, 2025
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Awards will be announced in Spring 2026.
Review Committee Information
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- The award review committee consists of staff members from IDMPS, UIC faculty, as well as administrators from units and colleges across the university.
Evaluation Criteria
- Evaluations of application materials are based on innovation, student engagement, and alignment with best practices in online course design.
Awardee Agreements
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Awardee Agreements
- Awardees will be recognized at an IDMPS-sponsored event.
- Awardee achievements may be featured on the IDMPS website and in other UIC communication channels.
- Awardees agree to participate in a panel or workshop series sharing their course design strategies with the UIC community.
- Awardees may be invited to serve on the IOCD Award Committee in future years.
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Eligibility for Future Awards
- Recipients of the 2025-2026 IOCD Award will be eligible to receive the award after a three-year period. Faculty who are not selected for the award are welcome to reapply in future cycles.
Questions?
For more information, CONTACT IDMPS.