The Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) backs large, cross-campus projects that align with the university's strategic plan, Forging Ahead, and bring significant benefits to the entire institution.

The SIF is a one-time resource to encourage interdisciplinary work, propelling UAB’s mission and strategic goals forward. It can be used to roll out new technology and platforms for better efficiency and competitiveness or invested in campuswide priorities like enrollment, safety, sustainability, and beautification. There’s no shortage of great ideas for these funds.

Proposals are reviewed based on their strategic fit, potential impact, and feasibility. By offering targeted financial support, the fund aims to empower UAB's faculty, staff, and students to take on ambitious projects that will shape the future of the university and its broader community.

What types of projects have been funded?

Blazer Core

Developed through a multi-year process involving feedback and collaboration with faculty, students, administration, and community members, the Blazer Core Curriculum has transformed the general education program. The program is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the opportunities and challenges of today and the future.

Through immersive, interdisciplinary educational experiences that integrate the classroom with the city of Birmingham, students gain foundational knowledge that prepares them for success at UAB and beyond. Focused on developing innovative thinkers, dynamic communicators, insightful researchers, and reflective global citizens, Blazer Core aims to produce lifelong learners poised to excel in their future studies and become leaders in their careers and communities.

Live Healthsmart Alabama

Live HealthSmart Alabama, the inaugural winner of the UAB Grand Challenge and program of Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center, is leading a transformational movement to decrease the incidence of chronic disease in Alabama and eliminate barriers to making good health simple. Making good health simple means developing a sustainable and comprehensive plan that can be implemented in cities throughout the state.

Revitalization efforts in neighborhoods include improvements in the built environment, a Mobile Market that provides access to healthy food options, cooking demonstrations, and healthy, easy recipes, a Mobile Wellness program that focuses on providing age appropriate health screenings and connection to appropriate health care, community coaches who connect neighborhood residents to resources that impact their health and wellbeing are all ways our team is working to bring strategies—founded on decades of research—to life.

Live HealthSmart Alabama is moving UAB forward as a Health Promoting University by implementing its signature keys of Good Nutrition, Physical Activity, Education, and Prevention & Wellness across the institution – working synergistically to achieve the goals of the Okanagan Charter.

UAB Online Learning

Expanding online programs and courses and increasing enrollment and retention is advancing UABs Education pillar: Provide 21st century, world class, socially responsible education that prepares diverse students to lead, teach, provide professional services and become prominent scholars and societal leaders of the future. Three out of the five undergraduate degree programs, supported in the SIF increased in student enrollment: Criminal Justice, Psychology, and Healthcare Management. Marketing efforts increased Google organic searches for UAB Online by 36%.

Review Committee

• Janet Woodruff-Borden, Ph.D. (co-chair), senior vice president for Academic Affairs and provost
• Tom Brannan (co-chair), senior vice president for Advancement and Strategic Initiatives
• Chris Brown, Ph.D., vice president for research
• Teresa Taber Doughty, Ph.D., professor and dean of the School of Education and Human Sciences
• Eric Ford, Ph.D., professor of Public Health, Health Policy and Organization; chair, Faculty Senate

2024 Awardees