C O L O R A D O C O L L E G E

Memorandum

TO:All Faculty

FROM:Sandi Wong, Dean of the College/Dean of the Faculty

DATE:March 6, 2018

RE:Faculty Grants

I am pleased to accept applications for funds in support of faculty research and curricular development. Eligibility, the purpose and terms of specific grants, and guidelines for proposals are described in this memo. Proposals are due Monday, March 26, 2018.

SUMMER RESEARCH GRANTS

Mrachek Fellowship Program

Eligibility: For pre-tenure, tenure-track faculty members in the first four years of their appointment.

Purpose: Two awards of up to $4,000 to underwrite scholarly travel, equipment, books, salary for student research assistants engaged in a collaborative project with the Mrachek Fellow, or other similar expenses related directly to the research project. Funds can be used as a summer research grant to provide release time for the pursuit of the proposed project (in which case the $4,000 would be taxable income).

Benezet Summer Research Start-up and Completion Grants

Eligibility: Applicants must be regular, full-time or adjunct members of the faculty.

Purpose: Award of up to $4,000 to underwrite scholarly travel, equipment, books, or other similar expenses related directly to the project.

If applying for a Benezet Start-up grant:

  1. Describe the central aims of the project and its potential contribution to existing or new areas of scholarship or creative work
  2. Specify what parts of the project will be completed during the summer, and provide a timetable for each activity that will occur during the summer and toward the anticipated date of completion. After completing the summer portion, submit a report to the Research and Development Board by November 2, 2018 that would be suitable for presentation to a professional organization (such as a research report, a proposal for an exhibition or a performance) or for publication.

If applying for a BenezetCompletion grant:

  1. Explain the status of the project and how the research project is likely to add to original scholarship, resolve or reveal significant questions or issues, or contribute to creative work in the field of the proposal.
  2. Provide a detailed timetable and explain how the project will be completed within approximately one year after the summer of the award. “Completion” refers to publication, presentation to a professional organization or to scholars outside Colorado College.

The Benezet Summer Grants are designed to aid research or creative effort that could be judged critically by national experts in the field of the endeavor. They are not intended to further programs of reading, to assist in course preparation and curriculum development, or to initiate investigations that have no clear promise of completion.Applicants may not teach in the summer for which they have received a Benezet grant.

Dean’s Summer Research Grant

Eligibility: Open to all regular faculty members (tenure-track and tenured, adjunct, and lecturer).

Purpose: Up to$3,000 to underwrite scholarly travel, salary for student research assistants engaged in a collaborative project with the awardee, equipment, books, or other similar expenses related directly to the research project; may be used to support initiatives and new research directions; may be used as a summer research grant to provide release time for the pursuit of the proposed project (in which case the award would be taxable income).

Guidelines for submission of research proposals:

  1. Please upload completed applications as Word or pdf files to the Office of the Dean Canvas Site. In the modules, go to Section 1 – 2018 Office of the Dean Summer Research Grants:
  • “Mrachek Fellowship Program”
  • “Benezet Summer Research Start-up and Completion Grants”.
  • “Dean’s Summer Research Grant”

The submission portal on Canvas will be open for application uploads on March 7, 2018, and will close on March 26, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.

  1. Awards will be made without regard to divisional or departmental quotas; each application will be judged strictly on its scholarly merits.
  1. The proposals must include the following information in this order:
  1. A description of the project, its significance and objectives, and the proposed use of funds. For projects that propose expenditures, the proposal must includea detailed list of expected expenses.
  2. Adetailed timetable of activities and a statement regarding the expected time within which the project will be completed. The proposed research project is expected to be the recipient’s major effort during the period of the grant.
  3. A list of other summer grants applied for or awards already received (specify years in which applicant has received awards related to the proposed research). Awards include research and development blocks, Jackson Fellowships, divisional research funds, department and other internal funds, and grants from outside the college. In the event that a comparable grant is awarded for the proposed project, the recipient will be expected to notify the Research and Development Board and to relinquish the Dean’s supported summer grant.
  4. A vita, including the applicant’s recent publications, presentations, current research activity, and preparation for the proposed project.
  1. The Research and Development Board reserves the right to ask faculty members at the College and elsewhere to appraise the proposals submitted to the Board, and to decide how many awards will be given each year.
  1. Recipients must submit a report of their work by November 2, 2018. Failure to do so may compromise opportunities for grant awards in the future.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

Norman B. Smith Faculty Fund and Summer Curriculum Development Grant

Eligibility:Faculty in their first and second years at the College

Purpose: An award up to $4,000 (taxable income) available to one faculty member to support course development during a four-week period in the summer.

Dean’s Curricular Development Grants

Eligibility: These grants are awarded to faculty working on courses that play (or would likely play) a key role in a department’s curriculum and/or support collaboration and connections between departments and programs.

Purpose: Work should occur during the summer or over half-block. If two faculty members apply together to prepare or revise a team-taught course, they will share the award equally.

Course Revision grants of up to $2,000 will be awarded for significantly revised courses, assuming two full weeks of focused effort (80-100 hours of work).

Criteria for Proposals:

  • What is the purpose of the course? What will be revised (lectures, readings, topics, projects, pedagogy) and how? Please be specific.
  • How will these changes enhance teaching and student learning?
  • If courses are being designed to meet the criteria for Critical Perspectives or for FYE, how will they meet these goals? Or, in the case of required departmental courses, will the revisions address particular issues of student learning, and if so, how? How will the revisions help students keep up with new directions, concepts, methods or findings in the field of study?

Course Development grants of up to $4,000 will be awarded for creation of new courses; assuming four full weeks of focused effort (160-200 hours).Awards for a team will be shared equally.

Criteria for Proposals:

  • What is the purpose of the new course? How will it serve students, a department or program, the college?
  • What materials, assignments, expectations, and experiences will the course include?
  • What pedagogical approaches inform the course design, and how will these approaches enhance teaching and learning?
  • Will the course incorporate new or different modes of teaching and learning? If so, describe what is new or different.

Guidelines for submission of curricular development proposals:

  1. Please upload completed applications as Word or pdf files to the Office of the Dean Canvas Site. In the modules, go to Section 1 – 2018 Office of the Dean Summer Research Grants:
  • “Norman B. Smith Faculty Fund and Summer Curriculum Development Grant”
  • “Dean’s Curricular Development Grants”

The submission portal on Canvas will be open for application uploads on March 7, 2018, and will close on March 26, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.

  1. Applications must include the following information in this order:
  1. Name of faculty member.
  2. Current date.
  3. Course Title.
  4. A short rationale for developing the new course or revising an existing course.
  5. A course description that includes an explanation of goals and learning outcomes, the readings, discussions, papers, projects and activities central to the course. If the course fulfills the Critical Perspectives or the FYE requirement, and/or learning outcomes associated with recent faculty discussions about general education, please relate the concept and design of the course to these criteria. Discuss how elements of the course you are proposing or revising will enhance student learning. An old syllabus for comparison, if applicable; a new tentative outline or syllabus.
  6. An estimate of the duration of the project.
  7. Please note whether you have received a curricular development grant in the past three years.
  1. Results: At the completion of the project, faculty members must submit a syllabus to the dean. After teaching the course, faculty members will submit a summary of the student evaluations and an assessment of the strengths and limitations of the course. Failure to submit these documents may compromise one’s opportunities for curricular development grants in the future.