Faculty Development Grants

Congratulations to all Spring 2008 grant recipients! To find out more about Columbia College Faculty who have recently received grants click on the following link:

• Recipients of Faculty Development Grants in Spring of 2008
  
  

ABOUT THE GRANTS:

With financial and administrative support from the Offices of the Provost and the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Faculty Development Committee invites applications from Full-Time Faculty members (including Artists-in-Residence and One-Year Appointments) for grants of money to support their creative and scholarly endeavors.

These grants are intended to encourage the kinds of research and artistic work that cannot easily or routinely be pursued without financial resources. They are intended to advance the creative and scholarly endeavors of faculty members. While fostering a faculty member's creativity and/or scholarship will also indirectly enhance the quality of student learning, these grants are NOT primarily intended to support curricular or pedagogical transformation. Support for significant projects focused on curriculum and pedagogy should be sought from the appropriate Departments and Schools. Support for significant projects using technology to enhance teaching and learning should be sought from the Center for Instructional Technology.

The Committee seeks to fund the best proposals it receives for review. Nonetheless, for reasons of equity, preference may be given to well-prepared proposals from individuals who have not received a CCC Faculty Development Grant within the previous three years.


To give you a sense of what a well-prepared proposal looks like, here are some examples of recent successful grant proposals (in .pdf format):

• sample of well-prepared grant application #1
  
• sample of well-prepared grant application #2
  

The Types of Projects Grants Support:

The Faculty Development Committee will support projects (or stages of long-term projects) that are feasible, fully-planned, likely to be completed within a reasonable time-frame, and promise to enhance the creative or scholarly life of individual faculty members and the College community. The Committee especially values projects whose quality, originality, and sustainability demonstrate the potential for external recognition and/or additional funding within the near future.


The Amount of Funding Available:

Ordinarily, grants to individuals will not exceed $4,000. Collaborative proposals are welcome. Ordinarily, grants to teams of two faculty members will not exceed $9,000; grants to teams of three or more individuals will, ordinarily, not exceed $15,000.


Consult Your Chair:

Individuals are strongly encouraged to consult with their Department Chair, with members of the Grants Committee, and/or with experienced colleagues when preparing a grant proposal, especially if applying for the first time.


Additional Support:

In partnership with The Center for Teaching Excellence, The Columbia College Faculty Organization will host a workshop for eligable faculty who wish to apply for these grants.  Please visit the CTE calander of programs for more details.



CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF ELIGIBILITY:

Current College policy requires that all grants be distributed as taxable income.


Faculty Development Grants support such expenses as:






Faculty Development Grants do NOT support:






Post-grant reports documenting work accomplished with support from any previous CCC Faculty Development Grants must be received (by the appropriate Department Chair and the Committee) before any additional funds can be awarded.


DEADLINES:

Fall 2008 Review Cycle:

To secure Faculty Development Grant funds for creative and scholarly projects to be conducted between January and June 2009, please submit your proposal for this review cycle:


Friday, October 3, 2008:
Grant proposals due for review by Committee.

Friday, November 7, 2008:
Notification of Grants by Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Monday, December 1, 2008:
Written acceptance of grant due to the CTE, along with any requested clarifications or emendations.

January 15 or 31, 2009:
Grant funds available as "additional pay" through payroll.



POST GRANT REPORTS:

Within six months of accepting a grant, recipients must submit a narrative report (usually 500-750 words) describing their accomplishments to their Department Chair and the Committee, c/o The Center for Teaching Excellence.

Individuals who do not submit reports in a timely fashion will not be eligible for subsequent grants. The Committee also expects that recipients will share their creative and scholarly work with colleagues on campus through various venues, at the department, school, and/or College-wide level.


APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Currently the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Faculty Development Grant Committee require that applications be submitted in hard copy. Forms for the Cover Sheet can be downloaded here in either PDF or HTML versions. Ten collated copies of all application materials must be delivered The Center for Teaching Excellence by 4:00 on the date of the deadline.

The CTE is located on the 8th Floor of the the Alexandrof Campus Center, 600 S. Michigan Ave.

Application Deadlines:

Friday, October 3, 2008, by 4:00 pm, for grants to be received in January 2009.


Note:
Please read accompanying guidelines with care before preparing your grant application. If this is your first time applying for a grant, please consult with your Chair or an experienced colleague.


A completed application consists of ten collated copies of the following four components:

1) Cover Sheet (Click here to download a PDF).
In the case of collaborative projects, each team member needs to complete and submit this cover sheet.


2) Narrative Proposal (normally about 750 words).
Please describe your creative or scholarly project for an audience of colleagues who may not be experts in your field or familiar with your previous work. Explain what you want to accomplish and why, emphasizing how the project will enhance your creativity, scholarship, and/or professional development. It's important to outline a plan that
convinces the Committee that you have ambitious, yet realistic, goals for the period of your grant, and that your project will generate meaningful results within a reasonable timeframe.


3) Detailed Project Budget
A clear and detailed budget will help convince the Committee that your project is feasible, sustainable, and well-planned:

Please itemize all expenses necessary to complete your project in a timely and efficient way.

If you are seeking funds for a particular stage of a larger, long-range project, please show specifically how grant funds will be used within the overall project budget.

Indicate clearly which expenses you expect to cover with funds from your grant and which expenses will be covered with funds from other sources.




Remember that Faculty Development Grants do NOT support:





4) A current resume or curriculum vitae

Note: The Committee has found that the most persuasive proposals tend to make their cases for funding without additional supporting materials. Therefore, additional supporting materials are no longer solicited or reviewed, except in special circumstances.


For more information:
Contact the Dean of your School or The Center for Teaching Excellence:
cte@colum.edu