“We talked with students and campus offices about where we could create value. We didn’t want to recreate existing tools but instead pull them together and help students get to the right place at the right time.”
Right place, right time
New mobile app puts personalized resources in students’ pockets
Leading the way in financial aid change implementation
Pioneering efforts resulted in early financial aid packaging and record enrollment for fall 2024
Charting language proficiency: a new self-assessment tool at UI
Application designed to assist students in self-assessing learning progress provides trajectory of language learning at Iowa
Real-time insights for academic advising
ICON Indicator empowers advisors to identify and support students who may need additional help, supporting a more effective advising experience
Developing a homegrown course feedback system
Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) tool provides flexibility, enhanced reporting
82 %
The 2020 FAFSA Simplification Act required a total overhaul of the 24-25 FAFSA and application processing system. This massive undertaking changed the foundational aspects of how institutions calculate, award, and disburse federal aid.
15,000
Operating under a compressed timeframe, Iowa’s teams kept the project moving by anticipating how the Department of Education would handle FAFSA data and using their own test data. By the end of May, the financial aid office had prepared over 28,000 Financial Aid Offers. This early packaging contributed to an unprecedented increase in fall 2024 enrollment.
13,700 +
75% of first-year students downloaded the new app during the OnIowa! program
74,433
The UI’s system for collecting end-of-semester course feedback was updated in summer 2024. The new system was built with guidance from the Office of the Provost and the Teaching Effectiveness Task Force. The new system, Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT), is a homegrown solution that provides flexibility to continually evolve to meet the needs of the university community.
60
ICON Indicator was designed to enhance the advising process by providing real-time insights. It pulls data from MAUI and ICON activity from the Unizin Data Platform. The current engagement status compares a student’s scores with peers in the course. If a student appears below a certain threshold, a small bell appears, signaling to the advisor that a more in-depth discussion may be warranted.