Proposal Guidelines

SIF Funds Critical Strategic Efforts

The Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) is designed to support our advancement toward UTSA's three destinations. The fund allows us to invest in critical strategic efforts that will serve the best interests of the university and ensures we align our resources with the university's highest priorities. The fund is limited and the proposal process is competitive.

SIF provides temporary funding for projects that advance the university's strategic initiatives. All requests will be reviewed by the Strategic Investment Fund Committee, with recommendations going to the University Leadership Council and President’s Cabinet, who will make the final decision. Deans and Vice Presidents will determine the priority of projects submitted from their area and may determine alternate funding for projects if necessary. There is a maximum of two funding submissions per College Dean, Vice President, or Vice Provost area per year.

Submission Process

The IRM office will release a Call for Proposals. Proposal writers will complete the SIF Funding Request Form and submit it to their respective Dean, Vice President or Vice Provost office for review. Deadlines for submission are detailed in the Call for Proposals.

To ensure that proposals have appropriate funding for technology requirements, the IRM office will refer all proposals with hardware or software components to UTS for review prior to submission to the SIF Committee. Some proposals might require additional expenses to enable UTS implementation and oversight. If UTS requests a change to a proposal, the proposal will be returned to the area Dean, Vice President, or Vice Provost office for final review.

After the final submission date, the IRM office will present the proposals to the SIF Committee. The SIF Committee will complete an in-depth review of all proposals and make recommendations for funding to the University Leadership Council and President’s Cabinet.

Tips for a Successful Submission

The best proposals support several of these SIF Goals:

• Fund projects that support the strategic destinations
• Promote collaboration across the university
• Benefit a broad base of key campus stakeholders (students, alumni, etc.)
• Plan for future funding needs
• Incorporate matched resources from college/department (financial, personnel, space, etc.)
• Increase level of service to customers
• Address a regulatory or compliance issue

Projects should be strategic, not operational. Successful SIF proposals are innovative and forward-thinking. Rather than solving an operational problem, they aspire to move UTSA forward in its strategic goals.

Projects funded through SIF should have already gone through any applicable academic planning processes. For example, new academic programs would need to have gone through the New Academic Programs proposal process. Likewise, proposed research centers or institutes should have gone through that planning process.

Strategic investment requests should support our advancement toward the three destinations, considered under the following categories:

Review a list of previously funded projects to learn more about the types of proposals funded through the SIF.