Office of the Provost

Call for Proposals: Teaching Innovation Grants 2020-21

Jan. 30, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

The Provost’s Office, through the Center for Teaching and Learning, is pleased to announce the 2020 application round for Teaching Innovation Grants for Brandeis faculty. These grants are intended to promote excellence and innovation in teaching by means of evidence-based practice. Examples of past Teaching Innovation Grant posters can be viewed at the Center for Teaching and Learning and online here.

Areas of Focus

All proposals that address innovation in teaching at the course, department, program, area, division or school level will be considered. Funding of $200,000 is available. Preference this year will be given to projects that address one or more of the following:

  • Assessment: projects that reflect evidence-based practices for the assessment of student learning, including revision of materials and curricula based on assessment data.

  • Accessibility: projects that enhance learning experiences for Brandeis students with learning differences and/or physical challenges by reducing barriers to their full participation.

  • Inclusion: projects that enhance our faculty’s preparation to provide a learning environment that supports well-being and equity and opportunities for Brandeis students to explore and celebrate their differences.

  • Brandeis Core: projects should apply evidence-based practice to the revision or design of teaching materials, methods and/or curricular pathways that align with the new Brandeis Core requirements.

  • Individual or team projects that enhance teaching and learning experiences for Brandeis faculty, students, and/or the broader community.

Eligibility

All members of the Brandeis teaching community may participate in Teaching Innovation Grant projects, while the following are eligible to apply as principal investigators:

  • Tenured faculty

  • Tenure-Track faculty

  • Contract faculty on multi-year contracts

  • Part-time faculty who have taught at least three courses in the previous three years, and who are contracted to teach at Brandeis during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Guidelines

Eligible expenses include:

  • Summer stipends for planning

  • Costs associated with attendance at courses, seminars, conferences, trainings, faculty development institutes or workshops (i.e. Association of American Colleges & Universities, Gardner Gateway, Indianapolis Assessment Conference, New England Faculty Development Consortium, Professional Organizational Development Network, etc.)

  • Teaching assistants or student workers

  • Publications about teaching and learning

  • External consultants’ or specialists’ honoraria, travel, lodging

  • Travel and admissions fees (e.g., for museums, sites, archives)

  • Supplies for reading groups

  • Evaluators

The following are not eligible expenses for Teaching Innovation Grant funds:

  • Food

  • Faculty salaries

  • Equipment

Budget Guidelines

  • Stipends are usually $1000 - $2500 per person, depending on the amount of work involved.

  • Calculate student wages according to your department’s or program’s guidelines.

  • Include 27.7% fringe costs for faculty stipends and 7.7% for summer graduate student payments. (Graduate student payments during the academic year are not subject to fringe costs.)

  • Projects that require funding beyond the year of the grant (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) must include a letter of commitment from the relevant dean or vice president.

Criteria for Selection

A selection committee consisting of Mary-Ann Winkelmes, executive director, Center for Teaching and Learning, representatives from the Committee on Teaching, Learning and Assessment, former Teaching Innovation Grant recipients, and representatives from each school and division will review proposals and make their recommendation to me by late April. They will evaluate proposals according to these criteria:

  1. the significance of the project and scale of the need

  2. the viability of the timeline and budget

  3. how Brandeis students and educators will benefit during the project

  4. what artifacts and measures will fully capture and communicate the project’s impact

  5. how the project’s findings and materials can serve the Brandeis teaching/learning community

Supporting Services

The Center for Teaching and Learning, the Rabb School’s Instructional Design team, Student Accessibility Support staff, Library staff, and staff from ITS will offer a variety of instructional design and other services to help you plan, design and implement your innovation. Any questions should be directed to Mary-Ann Winkelmes (wink@brandeis.edu), executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Proposals Due March 2, 2020

Applications for the upcoming academic year (2020-21) will be due by March 2, 2020.

Applicants will receive notification by April 3. Funds for independent projects will be released on July 1, 2020 and must be spent by June 15, 2021. Recipients will present their outcomes at a campus wide forum and share their findings on the Center for Teaching and Learning website.

I am very pleased to be able to support Brandeis faculty members through this program and look forward to seeing the impact of these teaching innovations on our educational programs.

Best regards,

Lisa M. Lynch, Provost