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The Gilbert Whitaker Fund for the Improvement of Teaching

Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2009


Click to download the "Application Cover Sheet/Budget Sheet" in MS Word format.

Recent Gilbert Whitaker Fund recipients

INTRODUCTION

The Gilbert Whitaker Fund provides funding for improvement of teaching and learning by collaborative groups of faculty in and across departments and programs.  There are two stages to the funding. Up to eight initial grants of $10,000 each will be awarded in Stage I and up to three grants of $15,000 in Stage II. Awards for Stage I will be announced in early February 2010.

All Gilbert Whitaker Fund Grants I and II are peer-reviewed by UM faculty.

For the Fall 2009 Stage I competition, preference will be given to projects that focus on assessment of student learning outcomes at the departmental, school/college, or institutional level. These collaborative proposals might include activities such as the following:

  • facilitating faculty discussions about desired outcomes for the major or some other aspect of the curriculum;
  • developing surveys, focus groups, and other processes for collecting information from graduating seniors and/or alumni about their experiences in a department, school, or college;
  • collecting data to inform implementation of curricular reform or examine the impact of a recent curriculum revision;
  • implementing a system for collecting and analyzing student work (e.g., in e-portfolios) to assess the impact of the major or a subset of courses on student learning
  • developing plans for using capstone courses to assess the impact of the curriculum or for evaluating the impact of internships or field placements;
  • evaluating the impact of an instructional innovation (e.g., use of clickers, podcasts, team work, peer editing, standardized patients, inquiry based labs, service learning, etc.) on a set of courses or a whole department (e.g., gateway courses, first-year seminars, a subfield within a department)
  • facilitating retreats for faculty discussions of the implications of data collected via surveys, interviews, or analysis of student work
  • other areas that assess or evaluate student learning, attitudes, or experiences across courses or programs.

Units that would like assistance developing assessment projects can contact CRLT
(crlt@umich.edu).

Faculty interested in individual, course-based assessment projects can apply to the CRLT Investigating Student Learning (ISL) grants competition.

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open, on the Ann Arbor campus of the University, to all tenured and tenure-track faculty; clinical instructional faculty; and Lecturers who have continuing appointments and course development responsibilities (i.e., an assignment from the dean, chair, or associate chair to develop a new course or significantly revise an existing course).  

The most successful of the Whitaker Stage I ventures will be eligible to apply for larger grants to continue their work, either in the 2011-2012 or 2012-2013 academic years.  The application process for Stage II of the grant includes a report regarding what has been accomplished in Stage I and a proposal indicating what might be accomplished with additional funding in Stage II.  On the basis of these reports and proposals, up to three Stage I grantees each year will be awarded grants of $15,000 for the Stage II continuation of their projects.

FUNDING

The following expenditures (among others) may be included in the budget request:

  • Retreats, workshops or planning sessions
  • Focus groups, surveys and written materials
  • Data analysis
  • Facilitator or consultant honorarium
  • Faculty summer salary
  • Replacement teaching subvention
  • Materials, supplies, and meals
  • Student support
  • Travel
  • Equipment

The following expenditures may NOT be included:

  • Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) salaries
  • Tuition portion of a Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA) appointment

FUNDING PERIOD

The period of funding will vary according to the requirements of the project.  However, the funding period is limited to two years. To be eligible, the funding period must begin in 2010 and projects must be completed by August 31, 2012. 

FUNDING DECISIONS

The review of proposals will be carried out by members of the CRLT staff and the CRLT Advisory Board, composed of faculty from across campus. The final funding decisions will be made by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.  Stage I awards will be announced in February 2010.

FUNDING PRIORITY: Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes

The Gilbert Whitaker Fund for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning focuses on funding collaborative groups of faculty engaged in activities that develop and deepen the commitment to good teaching and learning.

While collaborative proposals on other topics will be accepted, for the Fall 2009 Stage I competition, preference will be given to projects that focus on assessment of student learning at the department, school/college, or institutional level (for examples, please see the introduction above).  

PROPOSAL CONTENT

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

I.  Goals of the Project.  State the goals of the project, and indicate how the proposed assessment activities relate to departmental or college/school priorities.

II. Project Implementation.  Be specific about what the project will entail.  Explain what activities are to be carried out and by whom. Describe what data will be collected. Provide a timeline for the project.

III. Impact on Teaching and Learning. How will the data collected be used to improve teaching and learning at the University of Michigan? How will the project be sustained after the funding period?

IV. Names of faculty members and others involved (do not include C.V.s).

V. Complete Attached Budget Sheet (not to exceed $10,000 from the Provost’s Office, see FUNDING section above for allowable expenses).

V. Budget Justification.  Provide a justification to accompany 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.

VI. Letters of support. For these assessment proposals, please include letters of support for your proposal from Deans, Chairs or other relevant colleagues.

DEADLINES

Proposals are due to the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) at 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2009.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

Applicants should complete all items on the electronic copy of the application cover sheet and the budget sheet.  Applicants should then forward the completed cover sheet, budget sheet, full proposal text (see PROPOSAL CONTENT above), and letters of support via e-mail to crltgrants@umich.edu by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2009.  

Please submit your application as three documents attached to a single e-mail:

  1. application cover sheet/budget sheet with department chairperson’s signature as a .pdf document named “lastname_firstname_Wcover.pdf” (e.g., Smith_Jane_Wcover.pdf)
  2. application cover sheet/budget sheet as a Word document (.doc or .docx) with department chair’s section blank (e.g., Smith_Jane_Wcover.doc). 
  3. full proposal text as a Word document (e.g., Smith_Jane_Wproposal.doc)
  4. supporting letter(s) as a single .pdf document (e.g., Smith_Jane_Wletters.pdf)

Please e-mail questions about proposals or procedures to crltgrants@umich.edu

Please Note:

Applicants are responsible for tracking the submission process to be sure complete proposals and supporting materials are received by CRLT by 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2009.  CRLT will send copies of the proposal materials to the relevant dean for rating and ranking.

 

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