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Strategic Plan
ISU campus walkway with students, framed by green and orange autumn leaves and the State Farm Hall of Business building in the background.

EBD Strategic Initiative Fund

The Excellence by Design (EBD) Strategic Initiative Fund provides funding for one-time awards to financially support the implementation of initiatives that drive the goals and metrics of the strategic plan.

In FY26, submissions were open to the campus community, and proposals were received through the end of October 2025.  The following proposals were approved by the President’s Cabinet:

  • Advertising and Promotion in Primary Recruitment Markets (Project Lead – Jeff Mavros, Office of Admissions)
  • Building Process Improvement Capacity (Project Lead – Jenny Faust, Organizational Performance)
  • Path to AASHE Stars Gold: Green House Gas Tracking (Project Lead – Elisabeth Reed, Office of Sustainability)
  • Strengthening External Engagement (Project Lead – Harriett Steinbach, Research and Sponsored Programs)
  • Graduate School Peoria Streaming Advertisement (Project Lead – Alek McMath, Graduate School)
  • Illinois Wesleyan University Visit Day (Project Lead – Emma Kopko, Graduate School)
  • Criminal Justice Sciences Student Success Hub (Project Lead – Jeffrey Walsh, Department of Criminal Justice Sciences)
  • Building an Infrastructure to Support Internationalization: Adoption of Collaboratory (Project Lead- Matthew Schwab, Office of International Engagement)
  • Interdisciplinary STEM for the Public Good: Strengthening Faculty Practice and Student Success (Project Lead – Ashley Waring-Sparks, Center for Mathematics Science and Technology)
  • Advancing Physics Pathways: Recruitment, Retention, and Experiential Learning for Student Success (Project Lead – Mahua Biswas, Department of Physics)