Instructional Connections, LLC (IC) is pleased to announce that research grants are being offered and awarded to our partner institutions. The grants awarded will support scholarly and public discourse and foster the next generation of research around academic coaching. These grants reflect our commitment to innovation in higher education. The most recent awardees are as follows:
Dania Ochoa – University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ($15,000)
Start December 2025 – June 2027
Project description: This proposal aims to study the impact of academic coaching on faculty productivity in higher education, focusing on Academic Coaches provided by Instructional Connections. These coaches serve as an extension of course professors, offering customizable instruction tailored to student needs and supporting faculty. By easing routine responsibilities, Academic Coaches allow faculty to dedicate more time to course content, delivery, student engagement, and other priorities. The study will examine how this support influences key areas of faculty productivity, including research output, teaching effectiveness, time management, and service contributions. The findings will provide valuable insights into the impact of academic coaching on enhancing faculty performance and advancing institutional goals.
Leslie Jennings – University of Texas Arlington ($10,000)
Start February 2026 – July 2027
Project description: Online RN-BSN programs offer a flexible option for registered nurses to continue their academic progression in the United States. Academic coaches can play a key role in supporting students’ success in these programs by grading assignments and providing feedback. Little is known about RN-BSN students’ perceptions of and satisfaction with grading and feedback provided by Academic Coaches. This proposed study seeks to gain insights into factors affecting RN-BSN students’ satisfaction with academic coaches’ grading practices in a large online RN-BSN program in the southwestern United States, using a parallel-convergent mixed-methods research design and cross-sectional survey-based data collection. Insight into student perceptions regarding academic coaches’ grading practices will be useful for faculty and academic coaches as they seek to provide a coordinated approach to student support and academic evaluation.
Daisha Cipher – University of Texas Arlington ($15,000)
In progress, Spring 2025 – Summer 2026
Project description: The development and expansion of the UTA CONHI online nursing programs specifically address the practical barriers hindering capacity. Academic coaches play key roles in the success of these online nursing programs. This descriptive associational study will identify the extent to which appraisals of academic coaches in terms of availability, communication, motivation, and satisfaction are associated with student metrics, including course drops, course discontinuation, course grades, and program persistence. These investigations will yield a better understanding of how online coaching can contribute to producing a successful graduate of an undergraduate nursing program.
Instructional Connections (IC) provides small research grant opportunities for faculty within our partner institutions to conduct research around the efficacy of the Academic Coaching Model in an accelerated course environment across a variety of disciplines. Our goal is to advance the understanding of online learning and its relationship to coaching to continuously improve the learning experience for students. Therefore, we anticipate proposals to demonstrate a strong research design, and stringent analytic methods. In addition, proposals should present a clear and compelling explanation as to how the research proposed may be significant for educational practice. Each proposal should provide a conceptual framework and discuss related research, showing how it will contribute to understanding in ways far beyond the present study.
You can submit a proposal at any time, but Instructional Connections makes awards once a year. To be considered for a grant award, proposals must be submitted before July of the current year.
We are open to proposals that seek to research innovative approaches and outcomes around the areas of student support, faculty support, assessment/grading, student persistence, teaching practices or other salient areas of research that involve the Academic Coaching Model. Proposals which are quantitative are highly desirable, however qualitative research proposals will also be considered.
Grants will range from $5,000 to $10,000 and must be completed within a 9 to 12-month time frame. Consideration for submitting an ongoing longitudinal study (3 years or less) may be given if the proposal presented is sufficiently compelling to warrant that consideration. The eligibility requirement for submitting a proposal is the following:
Continuously Open: You can submit a proposal at any time, but Instructional Connections awards proposals once a year.
To be considered for the current grant cycle, proposals must be submitted before July of the current year. Your institution must be a current partner with Instructional Connections to be eligible to apply.
Full Proposal Review and Award: Review July – August / Grant Awarded in September of the current year.
Please sign up for early notifications and updates regarding grant opportunities HERE.
Application: Small Research Grant Application
Requirements: IC Research Grant Requirements
IC Small Grant Budget Policy: IC Budget Policy | IC Grant FAQ’s for Applicants: IC Research Grant FAQs
There are 7 parts to the application process. You are required to complete all parts of the application in order for your grant application to be considered.
Employment and educational credential information
Research interests and methodologies
Proposal summary
Proposed budget allocation
Proposal submission
Signature/Submit
Each of the criteria will be given a point value from 1-20 points. A maximum point value of 100 points can be assigned for any given proposal. A committee comprised of academic peers and IC officers, will review the proposals. Each committee member will submit their individual scores, which will then be averaged. Once the decision is made, IC will contact the grant awardee. Award decisions are conveyed within six weeks of the award committee completion of the review process.
Once the grant is disbursed to the institution, your time frame for the research begins. If an extension of time is required for completion of the research, you will need to submit a request in writing to IC at least three months prior to the end of the original date of completion, with a full explanation for why the extension is required.
Note: Current employees (full-time, part-time or independent contractors) of Instructional Connections are ineligible to apply for grants.
Questions about the grant process can be directed to:
Dr. Harriet Watkins, Chief Academic Officer at
harriet.watkins@iconnect-na.com.
