Faculty Development Fund

2008

Deadline for Submission:
4 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008

FDF Application Cover Sheet / Budget Sheet in MS Word Format

INTRODUCTION

During Fall Term 2008, CRLT will award monies from the Faculty Development Fund for innovations that enhance the quality of student learning. 

Grant awards up to $6,000 are available to individual faculty members or small groups of faculty who want to revise or develop courses or initiate smaller projects.

Grant awards up to $10,000 are available to departments, programs, and other large faculty groups that want to work together on topics such as curriculum development and evaluation, interdisciplinary courses, inclusive classrooms, research experiences for undergraduates, and graduate student instructor (GSI) mentorship and training programs.  The $10,000 grant awards are intended for larger projects.

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open, on the Ann Arbor campus of the University, to all tenured and tenure-track faculty; clinical instructional faculty; Lecturers who have continuing appointments and course development responsibilities (i.e., an assignment from the dean, chair, or designee to develop a new course or significantly revise an existing course). Grants may be made to individual faculty members or to groups of faculty who wish to undertake a joint project. The project director listed on the Application Cover Sheet must meet eligibility requirements.  Applicants who received Faculty Development Fund grants in the past may seek support for new proposals.  If a choice must be made between projects of equal merit, priority will be given to the proposal submitted by an applicant who has not previously received funds.

FUNDING

Grant monies must be used for project costs that do not fall within the realm of regular departmental expenditures. Requests should not include items that departments normally make available to faculty, such as photocopying, supplies, and routine secretarial assistance.

The following items may be included in the budget request:

• grants for faculty summer support
• graduate student salaries
• materials and supplies
• travel and registration fees for special teaching-related seminars or workshops
• other essential travel
• leasing of equipment for a short time period so that departments may decide whether or not the equipment should be purchased.

Funding is not available for:

• registration fees for workshops, seminars, and meetings that are not directly related to teaching;
• Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) salaries;
• the tuition portion of a Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA) appointment
• the purchase of equipment.

FUNDING PERIOD

The period of funding will vary according to the requirements of the project. The funding period is limited to two years, and it cannot begin until January 2009. To be eligible for funding through the Fall 2008 competition, the funding period must begin in 2009.

PROPOSAL CONTENT

An applicant should prepare a brief three-to-five page proposal, along with the cover page.  The proposal must include information on the following aspects of the project:

Goals of the Project.  State the goal(s) of the project and provide a clear indication of how the proposal relates to students needs and to departmental and college priorities.

Project Design.  Describe the general approach by which the project will meet relevant goals and indicate what makes your approach innovative from a pedagogical standpoint.

Project Implementation.  Be specific about what the project will entail.  Explain what activities are to be carried out, by whom, and how materials are to be used.

Teaching Approaches.  Describe the teaching approaches that will be used and how new approaches will be incorporated.

Impact on Learning.  Give particular attention to the effects proposed changes will have on student learning.  Improved student learning should be the ultimate goal of the project.

Scope.  Indicate the number of students, GSIs, and faculty members who will be affected by the project both immediately and eventually, and indicate specific departments, programs, or courses on which your project will have an impact.

Continuation.  Project the likelihood that the activities will be continued beyond the initial funding period. 

Evaluation.   Describe methods for evaluating the effectiveness of the project.  Give particular attention to the effects it will have on student learning.  Methods of evaluation might include, but are not limited to: midterm assessments, student focus groups, participant observations, peer reviews, pre- and post-tests, end-of-course student ratings, etc. 

Timeline.  Indicate the projected timeline for carrying out the project, and provide a breakdown for various stages of the project, including all points of evaluation.

Personnel.  List names of faculty members and others involved. Do not include curriculum vitae.

Budget Justification.  Provide a justification of the budget so that it is clear why each requested budget item is essential to the project.  Line items on the separate budget sheet should include the underlying assumptions used to prepare the request, such as rates of pay, numbers of hours and/or appointment percentages, and quantities and costs of various categories of supplies.  Cost sharing by academic units, when applicable, should also be itemized.  Fringe benefits must be figured into the budget for all personnel.  Budget items that are normally provided by departments, such as library acquisitions, travel expenses, copying expenses, and supplies, may be included as cost sharing.

DEADLINES

E-mail and printed proposals are due to CRLT from the applicant’s chairperson by 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008. Please contact your chairperson in advance of this deadline to allow enough time for the chair to review, rate and forward your proposal to CRLT by the deadline.

FUNDING DECISIONS

FUNDING PRIORITIES

Although CRLT focuses more attention on undergraduate education, proposals concerning graduate education are also welcome.  Priority will be given to proposals in two areas: the incorporation of multicultural perspectives and the use of active learning strategies.  To help applicants understand the nature of successful proposals, here are some examples of previously funded projects in these areas:

•  Incorporation of multicultural perspectives through instructional techniques and curricular content appropriate for a diverse student body:

Claire Zimmerman, Assistant Professor of History of Art, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; and Assistant Professor of Architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning was funded to create a course that integrates history into professional architecture and liberal arts education.

•  Use of active learning strategies, including instruction that enhances students’ skills in critical thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and oral and written communication:

H. Scott Fogler, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Vennema Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Professor of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering was funded to create student-response system exercises for the courses ChE 344: Chemical Reaction Engineering and ChE 405/Eng 405: Problem Solving, Trouble shooting and Making the Transition to the Work Place.

Bhramar Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health was funded to create lab tutorials and data application modules to integrate contemporary data issues into the course Biostat 503: Introduction to Biostatistics.

In addition to these priority areas, CRLT encourages faculty to think creatively about their teaching and propose other curricular or pedagogical innovations that will enhance student learning:

In addition to these priority areas, CRLT encourages faculty to think creatively about their teaching and propose other curricular or pedagogical innovations that will enhance student learning:

•  Novel applications and evaluations of technology in the classroom:

Paul Edwards, Clinical Associate Professor of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry; and Nisha D’Silva, Donald A. Kerr Endowed Collegiate Professor of Oral Pathology; Associate Professor of Dentistry, Department of Oral Medicine/Pathology and Oncology, School of Dentistry; and Assistant Professor of Pathology, Medical School were funded to create and evaluate an on-line modular digital pathology program for teaching oral pathology to dental students, dental hygiene students, and postgraduate dental specialty students.

Timothy Mckay, Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Physics, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts was funded to create a video archive for the course Physics 135: Physics for the Life Sciences.

Linda Strodtman, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing and Clinical Nurse Specialist, UMHS; Maureen Giacomazza, Lecturer, School of Nursing and Clinical Nurse IV, Pediatric Palliative Care Consultation Service; and Kenneth Pituch, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Medical School were funded to create and evaluate audiovisual film clips for teaching health professional students and health professionals about palliative and end-of-life care.

•  Curriculum development and evaluation:

Aileen Huang-Saad, Lecturer III in Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering was funded to create a graduate- level innovative design class in Biomedical Engineering.

Tarannum Master-Hunter, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Medical School was funded to revise the Orthopedics/Sports Medicine Residency Rotation curriculum.

Rachael Schmedlen, Lecturer, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering; and Rob Sulewski, Lecturer IV Undergraduate Education, College of Engineering; and Lecturer of Classical Studies, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts were funded to revise the lecture and laboratory components of Engineering 100, Section 500/University Course 163 that introduces students to the field of Biomedical Engineering.

•  Non-traditional approaches to teaching such as living-learning innovations in the residence halls, community service learning, or online and distance learning:

Ellen Rowe, Associate Professor of Music (Jazz Studies), School of Music, Theatre, and Dance was funded to expand the teaching techniques used in the Jazz Department Improvisation course sequence by engaging in one-on-one study with two jazz pianists and improvisation pedagogy specialists.

Terri Sarris, Senior Lecturer in Screen Arts and Cultures, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts was funded to develop a spring/summer outreach project for students from Screen Arts and Cultures and UM alumni to teach media literacy to metro-Detroit high school students.

CRLT also welcomes proposals that focus on the enhancement of the expertise of graduate students and graduate student instructors (GSIs) and classroom research and assessment that help faculty (individually or in academic units) understand how and what their students are learning.

Catherine Reischl, Clinical Associate Professor of Teacher Education, School of Education was funded to use digital audio and video records of education students’ teaching experiences to improve their work with children in grades 3-8 in the area of literacy education.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

You may submit proposals by e-mail or in printed form.

Electronic copies of the attached Application Cover Sheet and Budget Sheet are available at the top of this page.

Email proposals:

Applicants should complete items 1-10 on the electronic copy of the Application Cover Sheet and e-mail the form with a copy of the proposal, including the Budget Sheet, to their department chairpersons (with a copy to crltgrants@umich.edu). The chairpersons should complete Item 11 on the Application Cover Sheet, add comments if they wish, and then e-mail the completed form and proposal to crltgrants@umich.edu by 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008. CRLT will send a hard copy of the proposal materials to the relevant dean for rating and ranking.

Applicants are responsible for tracking this process to be sure that department chairpersons receive their e-mailed proposals to rate and forward them to CRLT by 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008.

Although it is not required, applicants may want to include e-mails or letters of evaluation or endorsement of their proposal from their chairperson, their dean, and/or other relevant faculty colleagues.

Printed proposals:

Applicants should complete the Application Cover Sheet and forward it with their proposal and Budget Sheet to their department chairperson for evaluation. The chairperson should complete Item 11 on the Application Cover Sheet, add comments if they wish, and then attach it to the other proposal materials and deliver it to CRLT, 1071 Palmer Commons, zip: 2218. CRLT will send a hard copy of the proposal materials to the relevant dean for rating and ranking.

Applicants are responsible for tracking this process to be sure that department chairpersons receive their proposals to rate and forward them to CRLT by 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, 2008. Although it is not required, applicants may want to include letters of evaluation or endorsement of their proposal from their chair, their dean, and/or other relevant faculty colleagues.

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