Dear Colleagues:
It is with great enthusiasm that I share with you the following announcement about Albizu being recognized as a leader in higher education.
The US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) awarded Albizu University a grant of $952,851 to fund the Albizu Digital Learning Infrastructure and IT Modernization Pilot. Our institution was one among four institutions selected nationwide for this grant. FIPSE grants, as described by the US Department of Education, fund projects that propose solutions that have the potential for national influence, involved the implementation of new ideas and approaches that are action-oriented and learner-centered, and that encourage grantees to take risks to support new and unproven ideas as well as improvements to proven ideas. Our grant is about how innovation leads to student success through activities that embed the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Through this transformational grant, our new Digital Learning Unit will implement the following activities from 2023 to 2025:
- create critical network and connectivity redundancies;
- create electric power backup capabilities for our data centers at the San Juan Campus, the Mayaguez University Center, and the Central Administration;
- develop a comprehensive Digital Learning Infrastructure Plan;
- provide culturally sensitive faculty training through Instructional Design Bootcamps and one-on-one guidance by Instructional Design Coaches;
- provide culturally sensitive student support through Virtual Navigators who will provide in-person and online academic and support services to students to address barriers to learning throughout the student academic journey;
- create the Center for Digital Learning Innovation with a Next Generation Digital Learning Environments Lab; and
- establish the Puerto Rico Digital Learning Online Consortium.
Dr. Alice Casanova will serve as project director with Hector Suero as co-project director. I thank CAO Dr. Berta Ríos for leading a team that contributed to this achievement and which included Alice Casanova, Miguel Bayón, Nancy González, Joselyn López, Ramón Menéndez, Hector Suero, Juan Rivera, Aileen Ortiz, Yoel Velázquez, and counted with the support of the Office of External Funds.
Cordially,
Nelson E. Soto, Ph.D.
President
Required Disclosure on grant award Grant Award P116L220014
All activities are financed with grant funds (100%).Total of Federal Funds: $952,851.
No cost-sharing (0%).
