Strategies for Teaching, Assessment & Retention (STAR) Award Program
Award Information for AY 2025-2026
Proposal Deadline: Complete application materials should be submitted as a single PDF file by 5 p.m. CST on March 31, 2025, using the STAR Awards Application Form.
Number of Awards & Amount: Four (4), each $5,000, teaching awards will be given to faculty (individual or faculty team) who are developing or implementing innovative, creative, and/or effective approaches to undergraduate education at UTSA, including new methodologies and/or best-practices.
Eligibility: All T/TT and FTT (at least 75% FTE) faculty are eligible to apply. ADTS and AI members are ineligible. Any previous STAR awardees are ineligible to apply again.
Award Description
The Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars (ADTS) and Academic Innovation (AI) are pleased to announce the Strategies for Teaching, Assessment & Retention (STAR) awards program for AY 2025-2026. The program seeks proposals to develop and implement innovative, creative, and/or effective pedagogy, digital literacy, experiential learning, evidence-based research and practices, or the use of technology to enhance accessibility and undergraduate student success. Proposals should describe how their teaching practices promote student success while enhancing student engagement and retention.
Proposal Instructions and Review Process
Proposals should be no more than three (3) pages in length and must contain the following components:
- Project description and goals, explaining the innovation or improvement to a particular course(s) you teach or plan to develop
- Anticipated outcomes and impact to students
- Plan to evaluate the project success, specifying metrics and evidence
- Plan to disseminate the results
Incomplete application will not be reviewed. You are encouraged to use the STAR Proposal Template to guide your proposal preparation.
The following addendum should be attached:
- Course outline or proposed syllabus
- List of courses taught in the last two (2) years with enrollments
- Planned schedule of future teaching of the enhanced class(es)
If your proposal is resubmission of the proposal previously submitted to this call but unawarded, you need to provide a brief summary of what changes/updates have been made from the previous one.
By August 31, 2026, awardees should provide a project report that includes:
- a final syllabus;
- course assessment, including student evaluations of the new approach; and
- project evaluation and future plans based on the findings.
Awardees are required to present their results at a meeting of ADTS and/or AI, in a workshop promoted by ADTS and/or AI (such as Teaching Showcase) to interested faculty, and/or in faculty news articles, record an audio or video testimonial, write a blog post(s) or in other ways to share details of the project.
Proposal Review Process:
The selection committee is composed of members of ADTS and AI. The committee will use the following proposal evaluation criteria.
- Promise and benefits of teaching innovation and/or improvement
- Potential impact of the change (e.g., number of students impacted)
- Potential for dissemination to other faculty
- Evaluation plan
- Plan for dissemination
Proposals that support high-risk courses (high D/F/W) and/or general education and core courses in a degree program are especially encouraged.
Key Dates
- Proposal Deadline: March 31, 2025
- Award Period: September 1, 2025 - August 31, 2026
- Full Report due: August 31, 2026
Apply
Submit the STAR Award Application Form by 5 p.m. CST on March 31, 2025.
Download and use the STAR Proposal Template to guide your proposal preparation before you apply.
Applicants are advised that proposals submitted to this opportunity must not be simultaneously submitted to other award and/or programs in and out of UTSA. If a proposal is selected to receive an award through this call, the applicant is obligated to inform other award/grant providers and withdraw duplicate submissions. Acceptance of awards or funding from multiple sources for the same project is not permitted. Applicants may accept funding from only one award or grant opportunity for a given project. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in disqualification from award consideration.
Empowering Education
Discover how three UTSA faculty members are transforming their academic approach and enhancing curricula to engage students and create innovative new teaching strategies.
Past Awardees
To read more about past STAR awards recipients, click here.
AY2024-2025
- Enhancing Visual Data Literacy through Generative AI in Technical Writing
- Sue Hum, English, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
- Experiential Learning and Evidence-Based Research and Practice in Chemistry
- Blain Mamiya, Chemistry, College of Sciences
- Engaging ENT 3123 (Innovation and Entrepreneurship) Course Modules
- Andrea Marquez, Management, Alvarez College of Business
- AI in Biostatistics: a Project-based Approach
- Kim Massaro, Management Science and Statistics, Alvarez College of Business
Fall 2023
- CS-CURE: Adapting and Scaling the Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) Model for Computer Science at UTSA
- Amanda Fernandez, Computer Science, College of Sciences
- Developing a New Undergraduate Course: Artificial Intelligence & Society
- Abraham Gibson, History, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Spring 2023
- B-Global - Inclusive and Engaging Writing Course
- Manjit Kaur, The Writing Program, University College
- Student Engagement Through Interactive Technology
- Cynthia Roberts & Matthew Schurmann, Mathematics, College of Sciences
Fall 2022
- Experimental Learning through Digital Storytelling of Westside Community Families in the Title Search project
- Jennifer Becker, Communication, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
- Course Development for ANT 3573: Digital Archaeology
- Rebecca Bria, Anthropology, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Spring 2022
- Collaborative Ethnographic Research Lab
- Patrick Gallagher, Anthropology, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
- Early Intervention for Experiential Learning through an Exposure Research Experience
- Judy Haschenburger, Earth & Planetary Sciences, College of Sciences
STAR Program Co-Chairs
Please direct questions to:
