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AI Undergraduate Curriculum Development Grants

Generative artificial intelligence is profoundly impacting how people learn, work, participate in society, and make sense of the world.

To support learning while students are in college and prepare them for their future endeavors, it is imperative that our students a) develop AI literacy by exploring the technology in a variety of contexts, b) critically analyze the technology and its impacts on society, and c) have opportunities to achieve AI fluency through AI-focused programs that will shape the future of the technology and how it is used. 

To achieve these goals, students should engage meaningfully with this topic across Pathways General Education, discipline-specific courses, majors, and minors. This engagement should be informed by and aligned with Virginia Tech’s Responsible and Ethical AI Principles. 

The Office of Undergraduate Curriculum, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), and Technology-Enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) are partnering to support instructional faculty in their development of AI-focused courses and programs across the curriculum at Virginia Tech.

Please email Stephen Biscotte with any questions.

Purpose of this Grant Call

This grant will provide individual faculty or faculty teams with the time, space, guidance, and tools needed to accomplish the following goals for the undergraduate curriculum:

  1. develop a new AI-centric course,
  2. substantially revise and reimagine an existing course to be AI-centric or develop and embed AI-pedagogy throughout,
  3. create a new AI-centric major or minor, or
  4. revise an existing major or minor to include a significant AI-centric component.

This grant is NOT designed to provide introductory training in AI concepts and tools. For direct faculty support in AI fluency, please explore the many workshops, resources, and consultations available through the TLOS Professional Development Network and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

The submission deadline is December 5, 2025.

The amount of funding will be determined by the specific needs of each proposal, up to a maximum of $10,000 per proposal. Teams are invited to apply with a maximum of $5,000 going to each individual faculty member, also with a maximum of $10,000 per proposal. Upon completion of the MOU, the funding will be transferred as ENG funds to each awarded department in early February to distribute as needed.

This is a course, minor, and major faculty development-focused grant, so funding would most likely support faculty stipends and/or summer salary. Subscriptions to AI software, costs that go beyond this fiscal year (June 30), GTA/GA costs, and teaching buyouts or course releases will NOT be funded.

Complete this AI Grant Budget Template excel file and submit with your proposal.

Faculty are expected to engage in the following activities (with support from CETL, TLOS, and UAA) and provide the following deliverables:

  • Participate in meetings with other grantees:
  • A curriculum development kickoff meeting in early February. This meeting will establish a shared AI vocabulary and project expectations; it will also connect grantees with similar projects in other disciplines and with the support resources needed to accelerate the launch of the project. 
  • Two grantee cohort meetings in spring semester (one in March, one in April).
  • An all-grantee cohort gathering at the Summer Institute on May 22, 2026.
  • Invited presentations at a showcase event in early Fall 2026 (optional).
  • Submit a final report that includes a spending breakdown and description of grant-supported deliverables.
  • Participate in evaluation activities (e.g., observations and student surveys) once the course/program is underway.

  • Submission deadline: December 5, 2025
  • Awardee announcement: by January 15, 2026
  • MOU process completed and funding transferred to departments: early February 2026
  • Grantee development work: February 2026 to June 30, 2026
  • Project report due: July 1, 2026
  • Submit new or revised course, minor, or major to governance: Spring/Fall 2026
  • If all goes smoothly, offer new or revised course, minor, or major to students: AY 2026/27 or 2027/28

Applications can be submitted through this AI Undergraduate Curriculum Grant Proposal Form. 

As part of your proposal, please download this AI Grant Budget Template Excel file, fill out your requested budget (see an example on the second tab of the Excel spreadsheet), and upload the file along with your application.

To draft your responses first, feel free to use this Microsoft Word version of the Proposal Form. You can then copy and paste your responses into the AI Undergraduate Curriculum Grant Proposal Form when you are ready to submit.

Grant Partners

  • Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)
  • Office of Undergraduate Curriculum within Undergraduate Academic Affairs
  • Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS)