The Faculty Center for Professional Development

The Faculty Center for Professional Development

2016-2017 Mini-Grant Program Request for Proposals

Proposals are due via email to Victoria Bhavsar by 5:00 p.m. on January 13. 2017.

The Faculty Development Advisory Committee is pleased to announce the Faculty Mini-grant Program for 2016-2017, funded by Academic Affairs for support of faculty activities that address the teacher-scholar model. The mini-grant award is intended to encourage activities relating to:

·  Teaching and learning, particularly related to student success and Graduation Initiative 2025

·  Research and creative activities, particularly (but not limited to) scholarship of teaching & learning

·  Integration of teaching and scholarly work

The Faculty Development Advisory Committee will select proposals for funding.

Amount of Awards

The total amount of mini-grant funding available is $30,000. Awards of up to $1000 may be considered. Please submit only one proposal per faculty member.

How can the funds be used?

Mini-grant funds are State funds and must be spent in accordance with state and university policies and procedures for spending. It is YOUR responsibility to be aware of policies and procedures that may affect your ability to use funds; check with your college or department administrative coordinator.

Mini-grant expenditures are for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, ending June 30, 2017. University deadlines for submitting expenditures and purchasing equipment and supplies are prior to June 15, often as early as late April. If you do not meet spending deadlines, you may lose your funding.

Eligible costs include but are not necessarily limited to:

·  Travel for related teaching, research, or service activities (e.g., collect data, visit archives, collect on-site course materials, meet with collaborators for a specific project). Travel to conferences is not eligible, including registration fees.

·  Publications, software, equipment & supplies for classroom innovations or research activities. Software, computers, or digital equipment require Accessible Technology review prior to purchase.

·  Student assistants.

Non-eligible costs include but may not be limited to:

·  Conference travel is NOT eligible, including registration fees. Please contact your dean’s office for information about the President’s travel fund.

·  Because mini-grant funds are State funds (not Foundation), they cannot be used for gifts, food, or incentives for participation in research or other activities.

·  Funds cannot be used for tuition or fees related to work toward an advanced degree.

Who is eligible to apply?

Tenure-track, tenured faculty and lecturers who teach at least three courses per academic year, and department chairs may apply. Faculty in the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) are eligible to apply as long as the funds will be used during the term(s) in which the faculty member is teaching. Faculty members who are fully retired are not eligible to apply. Faculty serving in director positions are eligible to submit proposals related to disciplinary teaching, research, or integration; proposals should not address the program for which the faculty is the director.

How to apply:

Please use the attached application and budget form. Please do not submit supporting documents such as letters of endorsement. If the mini-grant request is for a component of a larger proposal, you can refer to the larger proposal, but please do not submit it in detail.

The rubric used to evaluate proposals is attached.

Timeline

Proposals are due via email to Victoria Bhavsar () by 5:00 p.m. on January 13, 2017 (strict deadline!). Faculty will be notified of award decisions by February 3, 2017, via email. Funds will be transferred to your College as soon as possible following the decision; you will work with your College to expend funds.

Responsibilities

Mini-grants must be used for the proposed purpose, with reasonable modifications allowed (e.g., you planned to purchase Equipment X but it was donated and so now you need Supplies Y). Funds that are not used for their proposed purpose will revert to your College or department.

A brief final report is required. A template and a request for the report will be sent in June 2017, due by July 31, 2017. Please be aware that if you do not submit a report, you will not be eligible for the mini-grant competition the next time it is available.

Application Form

2016-2017 Mini-Grant Program

Name:
Department:

Email:

Phone:

Project title:

Please select one project type (underline or highlight):

·  Teaching and learning, particularly related to student success and Graduation Initiative 2025

·  Research and creative activities, particularly (but not limited to) scholarship of teaching & learning

·  Integration (integrating research into the classroom or students into research)

Narrative

Please describe what you are going to do, how you will do it, why it is important, and how you will assess the outcomes or impact of the project. Please limit to 2 pages.

Teaching proposals:

·  Describe the course or courses affected, and describe the activity.

·  Describe how the activity will enhance or has enhanced student success, providing supporting evidence.

·  Describe how you will assess or have assessed learning outcomes.

Research and creative activities proposals:

·  Describe the basic purposes and methods of the work, identifying realistic, achievable objectives, including a timeline to completion if appropriate.

·  Describe the significance of the work. Include a brief indication of plans to continue or to extend the work if appropriate, or indicate that funds are to complete a project or for a stand-alone project.

Integration of teaching and scholarship:

·  Describe the basic purposes and methods of the work, identifying realistic, achievable objectives, including a timeline to completion if appropriate.

·  Describe how the activity will enhance or has enhanced student learning, including assessment of outcomes.

·  Describe the significance of the work for the field, for your career, and for the benefit of the student(s).

Budget

Item: Please specify, e.g., what publications, what equipment. The more detail given, the more competitive your proposal will be. / Cost / Mini-grant Request: / Other funding, if applicable
In-state travel
Out of state travel
Supplies
Services (e.g. copy-editing)
Computer equipment
Non-computer equipment
Consumables (e.g. lab chemicals)
Software
Books
Memberships or publication subscriptions
Professional development (e.g. online workshops)
Student assistant
Other – please describe
Total

*Conference travel is NOT eligible, including registration fees.

Responsibilities Checklist

·  I understand that funds must be used for the proposed purpose, with reasonable modifications if necessary. I understand that unused funds will revert to my college or department.

·  I understand that mini-grant funds are State funds and must be spent in accordance with state and university policies and procedures for spending. I understand that it is my responsibility to be aware of policies and procedures that may affect my ability to use the funds.

·  I understand that this funding is for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, ending June 30, 2017. I understand that the university has spending deadlines as early as April for completing expenditures by June 30, 2017. I understand that if I do not meet relevant deadlines, I may not be able to use my funds.

·  I understand that the report describing mini-grant activities is due by July 31, 2017.

______

Signature (electronic (type in)) Date

Proposals are due via email to Victoria Bhavsar () by 5:00 p.m. on January 13. 2017.

2016-2017 Faculty minigrant rubric & scoresheet

Proposals are scored holistically.

Exceptional (6, 5)

Proposals have a complete description of the activities to be undertaken, realistic objectives, sound methods, and a timeline.

·  For teaching: Supporting reasons and evidence that the proposed activity will enhance student success in support of Graduation Initiative 2025 are well-articulated, thoughtful, and reasonable. The proposed assessment method is well-described, reasonable, and achievable. A deep appreciation for the serious intellectual nature of teaching is evident.

·  For research: For disciplinary research & creative activities, the work is demonstrably significant to the field or the faculty member’s career. For scholarship of teaching projects, the project addresses a significant teaching & learning issue in the course and has sound pedagogical research design. For both, continuation plans have been considered, or the proposal is clearly for completing work or for a stand-alone project.

·  For integration: Supporting reasons and evidence that the proposed activity will enhance student learning are well-articulated, thoughtful, and reasonable. The work is demonstrably significant to the field and/or to student development.

Acceptable (4, 3)

Proposals address all of the above but explanations are less well-articulated or less thoughtful. (Don’t mistake brevity for lack of thoughtfulness or length for presence of thoughtfulness.)

Marginal (2)

Proposals are incomplete or fail to ground the suggested activities in appropriate evidence and/or reasoning.

Unacceptable (1)

Proposals do not address the questions posed in the RFP, are not coherent or reasonable, or demonstrate a lack of appreciation for the serious intellectual nature of teaching or lack of significance of the research proposed.