The University of Iowa will invest up to $15 million in public-private partnership (P3) funding during fiscal year 2026 to support continued progress on its strategic plan, including faculty hiring and retention, facilities renovation and a new interdisciplinary project.
University leaders selected one new interdisciplinary project from a campuswide proposal process, continued funding for a major renovation of the Performing Arts Annex, and reserved additional support for faculty hiring and other emerging priorities.
“The P3 program helps us turn great ideas into real progress,” said Kevin Kregel, UI executive vice president and provost,” in a post on the university’s website. “By aligning our investments with areas of need and opportunity, we are achieving new levels of student success, faculty excellence, and impact across the university.”
One of the newest projects selected for funding is a three-year, $642,896 initiative to launch an Exercise Oncology Clinic in the Department of Health and Human Physiology. The clinic will provide personalized exercise programs and advanced imaging services for cancer survivors, while also serving as a research hub and a training site for students.
Chosen from 11 proposals submitted in fall 2024, the clinic focus on improving the health and quality of life for cancer survivors and enhance hands-on learning for students pursuing careers in health and exercise science.
Another portion of the funding — $3 million — will support ongoing renovations to the Performing Arts Annex, the former art museum. The facility will become the new home of the Department of Dance, offering upgraded spaces designed to meet the needs of students and faculty and foster collaboration across performing and visual arts programs.
Construction began in February 2025, with completion scheduled for August 2026.
The university will reserve the remaining $11.36 million to fund other strategic plan priorities throughout the fiscal year. Of that, $4 million will go to the High Impact Hiring Initiative, which helps colleges recruit and retain faculty “in areas of excellence and impact,” the post stated. Since its launch in 2021, the initiative has supported 75 faculty hires and 32 retentions across 10 colleges.
The Strategic Plan Action and Resource Committee (SPARC) will continue to distribute P3 funding through its Implementation Fund, which has already supported 19 campus projects — including seven in FY 2025. A full list of funded initiatives is available on the strategic plan website.
About the P3 Program
The P3 Program stems from a 2020 agreement in which the university entered a 50-year partnership with ENGIE North America and Meridiam to operate its utility system. The nearly $1 billion arrangement generated an endowment, the earnings of which support annual investments in the university’s core missions of teaching, research and scholarship. Each year, the fund contributes approximately $15 million to advance strategic priorities.
