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Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Incubator Program

KU faculty are invited to apply for CTE’s Spring 2025 COIL incubator program. Application deadline: March 3

COIL creates virtual exchange experiences that connect your students with faculty and peers overseas.

This “pop-up” faculty program is a collaboration between CTE and KU’s Office of International Affairs, linked to a broader university initiative to transform KU into a comprehensive international university where “international” is more thoroughly and seamlessly woven into every aspect of institutional life. To this end, the program aims to help faculty move toward incorporating elements of COIL into one or more of their courses as a step toward this internationalization. Global engagement, even when it happens from the comfort of home, is broadly understood to be a high-impact teaching practice that helps students better learn how to engage with others—skills they will need in the workforce, no matter what they study. COIL is a great strategy for providing students with an affordable but still meaningful opportunity for global engagement. Participants in the incubator will participate in three meetings after Spring Break to develop a plan to incorporate COIL into a course they will teach in the 2025-2026 academic year. 

To participate, you do NOT need:

  • An existing international partner. We can help you find one!
  • Existing (or any) international content in your course. 
  • Non-English language fluency.

The outcomes for the program are for participating faculty to have defined:

  1. At least one learning outcome for one or more undergraduate or graduate classes that would not be achievable without having a COIL component.
  2. The activities to achieve COIL-related outcomes.
  3. Ways they will overcome potential language barriers and ensure effective online engagement (synchronous or asynchronous).
  4. A first draft of guidelines and resources for the future development of COIL activities on campus.

What is the Incubator program?

The Incubator program gives faculty members an opportunity to develop teaching innovations and new models of teaching practice in a collegial setting that offers peer review and support. Commencing after Spring Break, participants are expected to: 

  1. Meet 3 times in person at a mutually agreeable time to progress toward achieving the outcomes outlined above. 
  2. Teach the target course in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026.
  3. Submit a brief final report (~ 2 pages) on their assessment of the course modifications by January 30, 2026 (for fall courses) or June 30, 2026 (for spring courses)
  4. Share the results of their work in a poster (with support from a CTE graduate student fellow) at the CTE Celebration of Teaching in May 2026. The poster and related materials will also be submitted to KU Scholarworks, or seminar participants can choose to develop a portfolio (again, with support from a CTE graduate student fellow).

Who is eligible?

Faculty (including teaching specialists, teaching professors, and multi-term lecturers) from any department or academic program on the KU Lawrence or Edwards Campus can apply. The Incubator program requires independent work on teaching. It is best suited for teachers who have some experience reflecting on their teaching and improving student learning. 

How will you benefit from participating?

In addition to what you (and your students) will gain from the incubator, you will also:

  • Become part of an intellectual community of colleagues from across campus who are interested in embedding meaningful international engagement in their students’ learning experiences.
  • Receive a $1500 stipend/professional fund (please note that if you take this as a stipend, the amount you receive will be reduced by taxes and fringe, and professional funds must be spent by the end of the current fiscal year which is June 1). 
  • If your proposed project would benefit from international travel to a particular nation or region, KUIA and KU’s Area Studies Centers may be able to provide additional support of up to $1500. 

How do you apply?

Submit an application by March 3.  The application should be 1-2 pages and should address the following: 

  1. What course(s) do you propose to focus on, and why?
  2. What learning outcome(s) might you adapt or create to involve some kind of information exchange with overseas partners?
  3. You might already have an international connection on which to build for this effort. If so, tell us about the partnering faculty member or institution and what level of engagement you have with them now. If you don’t have a connection, tell us what discipline you’d like to connect with (transdisciplinary COIL projects can be a great way to bring something new to your class).
  4. If you believe your project would be improved by your own international travel to meet with potential COIL partners, tell us about the location and how your contact could lead to longer-term relationships regarding teaching and research.

Selection criteria

Selection will be based on applicants’ openness to teaching innovation and curricular internationalization, interest in engaging with an interdisciplinary faculty community. 

Participants accepted into the program will be notified by March 14 and meetings will be scheduled quickly thereafter around participant availability.

Questions?

Contact Chris Brown