Call for Proposals - Villanova Institute For Teaching and Learning (VITAL) Minigrants For 2008
Deadline – Friday, March 28, 4:30 P.M.
The Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning (VITAL) is pleased to announce the continuation of its program of minigrants. The purpose of these grants is to assist full-time Villanova faculty members to foster advances in undergraduate and graduate teaching and learning at Villanova, to implement the teaching-learning sections of the University’s and Colleges’ strategic plans, and to probe new instructional frontiers. This VITAL minigrant program offers grants of up to
$6000 per person (maximum summer stipend $4500) for individuals or an equivalent amount for groups of faculty. Details of the program are given below.
Additional questions should be directed to Dr. Carol A. Weiss, director of the Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning, ext. 95627.
Initiatives and Activities to be Considered for Funding
1. New or improved methods of fostering student learning, including innovative instructional techniques:
- Use of laptop computers within the classroom or laboratory to engage students in hands-on interactive learning
- Problem-oriented, multi-disciplinary learning
- Team learning and team teaching
- Experiential or service learning
- Student-faculty research efforts; student research initiatives
- Synchronous or asynchronous distance-learning courses and/or infusion of instructional technology into existing courses
- New experimental formats that offer possibilities for future college-wide or university-wide adoption: variable credit; more-than-three credit courses; weekend classes; self-paced learning; year-long courses; mini-courses between semesters; early summer classes, etc.
- Active student-centered learning, with greater student responsibility for learning, including approaches such as problem-based learning, small-group learning, and cooperative learning.
- Incorporation of the advanced networking technologies of Internet2 into teaching and learning initiatives (co-funded by the Center for Instructional Technologies).
2. Departmental initiatives that identify and specify learning objectives and that identify and implement assessment techniques to determine degrees of successful student learning.
3. Instructional activities linking academic life and student life more closely in a holistic educational program. (Appropriate participation by Student Life personnel may be required.)
4. Development and implementation of courses focused on innovative teaching methodologies and approaches that can be and are likely to be disseminated to and applied in other Villanova colleges and programs. Proposals for course development must (a) emphasize the incorporation of innovative instructional strategies as well as new content and (b) demonstrate the strong probability of the proposed course becoming a regular course offering, as also confirmed in statement(s) of support from the appropriate dean(s) and department chair(s). Proposals are particularly encouraged for courses that develop new instructional strategies to foster and integrate:
- Moral and ethical values, especially those inherent in or arising from the Judeo-Christian tradition and Villanova’s Catholic and Augustinian heritage.
- The relevance and impact of religion and religious faith on society, public policy, and the human condition generally.
- International studies, especially efforts to bring an international perspective into existing curricula and efforts involving study abroad or some comparable experience.
- Interdisciplinary studies, especially programs that (a) involve innovative modes of organization, (b) appeal to new student populations not currently served by Villanova; and/or (c) bring together departments, disciplines, and colleges that have not previously worked together and/or that are not normally understood to have much in common.
5. Overt and assessable efforts at student skill enhancement: oral presentation, writing, information literacy, technology acquisition in non-technical courses, argumentation, computational skills, scientific literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, research methodologies, etc.
6. Activities designed to explore new pedagogical possibilities: enrollment in a distance-learning course or participation in a class at another institution utilizing innovative or high-technology instructional modes; working with faculty from another school to deliver a common course, etc.
7. New ways of enhancing instructional skills: mentoring of junior faculty to enhance teaching; linking of two or more faculty members to visit each other’s classes and undertake instructional development efforts.
8. Teaching groups: a year-long involvement for three to six faculty members from a minimum of three departments or colleges who have a common topic, technique, or focus that they want to explore, develop, implement, and/or assess. This could include, but is not limited to, any of the potential activities listed in items 1 through 7 above. Facilitated by the director of VITAL, these individuals would meet during the summer and at least monthly during the academic year with a structured agenda for pursuing their common goals.
Use of Grants
Grant funds may be used for travel expenses, speakers’ or consultants’ fees, instructional material development and production, educational media, stipends for graduate or undergraduate research or technical assistants, summer stipends, honoraria (for individuals with 12-month appointments), teaching load reductions under special circumstances, and certain limited equipment and supply expenses or other resources needed to complete, implement, and evaluate the VITAL minigrant project. For related information, please see items 5 and 6 under the Administrative Policies section below.
Application Process
Applicants for a VITAL minigrant should submit the original completed proposal with appropriate signatures and statements of support, along with
nine (9) paper copies of this material, to the Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning, Vasey 106. The application deadline is
Friday, MARCH 28, 2008, no later than 4:30 P.M. Applications received after this time will not be considered for funding.
It is strongly recommended that applicants consult a member of the Minigrant Selection Committee (see
below) while developing their proposals.
The Proposal should be no longer than seven (7) pages, including the following:
A. Cover Page
The cover page should be used as the first page of the application. This must be signed by your dean and department chair (and in some cases, program director) and
include their separate statements of support for your proposal. Statements of support for new course proposals must confirm the strong probability that the proposed course will be offered regularly.
When applications involve more than one college or department, the signatures and supporting comments of each dean and department chair are necessary. Applicants are advised to seek these signatures and statements of support well before the application deadline.
B. Narrative (does not include the cover or budget pages)
A narrative of the project, not exceeding five numbered double-spaced
pages in 12 pt. font size, should follow the cover page. The narrative should include the following:
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Rationale (2-3 pages): (a) a clear statement of the teaching-learning problem or issue being addressed by the project, (b) a description of how the proposed approach is expected to solve the problem, and (c) an explanation of the ways in which the project is important to your students’ learning and to your development as a faculty member.
Please elaborate and give specific examples when addressing (c), including an indication of how many weeks of the course the proposed project will affect.
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Relationship to the educational goals and objectives of your department and/or College (1-2 paragraphs): a description of the ways in which the proposed project is expected to address specific departmental and/or College educational goals and objectives.
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Learning Objectives (1-2 paragraphs): specific statements of what the project is intended to accomplish. What content knowledge, skills and/or values will students be expected to gain as a result of this project?
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Time schedule (1 paragraph): a description of the stages of the project and its expected beginning and ending dates. Requests for summer stipends or teaching-load reductions
must include an approximation of the number of hours per week that will be spent on the project and the specific project-related activities that will be conducted during that time.
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Evaluation section (1 page): a description of the evidence and analyses that you expect to provide to assess how effectively the project addressed the problem or issue identified in the Rationale section above and how well the learning objectives were accomplished. The evaluation section should include examples of the types of assignments and other measures that you might use to assess the changes and/or improvements in students’ learning that are expected to result from the proposed project.
This is an important part of your proposal; please provide detailed information. This information should include a description of how you intend to measure students’ knowledge or skills at the beginning of the project so that you can evaluate the effectiveness of the project activities at the end.
C. Budget Page
A complete list
of all resources and financial support needed for the project should be
provided, using the budget
page.
a) If applying for a summer stipend (faculty with 9-month appointments) or honorarium (individuals with 12-month appointments),
$4500 is the maximum amount that can be requested per individual in the stipend or honorarium category. For this maximum amount, the time committed to the project is expected to be the equivalent of that involved in developing a new course. Total funding requested in the other budget categories cannot exceed
$1500.
(b) If applying for a teaching-load reduction of one course section, please indicate as accurately as possible the expected cost of hiring an adjunct faculty member to teach that section. Total funding requested in the other budget categories cannot exceed
$1500.
(c) Only equipment, materials, or services essential to the implementation of the proposed project should be included in the budget request. The amount requested for such expenditures may not exceed 50 percent of the total amount requested.
Eligibility
A. Full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible. First-year tenure-track faculty are encouraged to co-apply with a more senior colleague.
B. Full-time non-tenure-track faculty who have been on the Villanova faculty for at least four years are also eligible for minigrants. Full-time non-tenure-track faculty with fewer than four years of service at Villanova may be co-applicants, provided that there is a primary applicant with full eligibility.
As indicated in the Administrative Policies section (see below), individuals are not eligible for minigrants in two consecutive years.
Criteria for Selection
The following criteria will be used to judge the merits of each proposal:
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The proposal includes all information requested.
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The proposal has a clear rationale and a set of well-defined objectives for the improvement of instruction and/or students' learning.
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The proposal indicates the specific way(s) in which the proposed activity is expected to lead to a change and/or improvement in teaching-learning practices.
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The proposal demonstrates a strong relationship to the educational goals and objectives of the department and/or College.
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The proposal clearly demonstrates how the scope of the project represents an effort above and beyond the typical instruction-related activities expected of a faculty member.
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The proposal is specific in describing procedures for implementing the project.
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The proposal includes a detailed plan for developing measures to evaluate changes and/or improvements in students’ learning resulting from the project.
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The funding requested is appropriate to the scope of the project.
Method of Selection
A selection committee will use the preceding criteria to review and evaluate all proposals submitted. This committee, chaired by the director of VITAL, is composed of faculty members from each of the four colleges of the University and includes previous minigrant recipients. Their names and departments are listed below. Applicants are encouraged to consult them while developing proposals. Final approval for funding will come from the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Administrative Policies of the Program
The following guidelines provide additional important information about the minigrants:
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Grants will be made during the current spring semester for the summer and for the next academic year.
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Consistent with University enrollment figures, a minimum of 80 percent of the VITAL minigrants will be awarded to undergraduate-education proposals, with graduate-education proposals eligible for the remaining 20 percent.
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An individual may not apply for more than one minigrant each year. Those who receive a grant one year are not eligible for the program the following year. Faculty members who apply for subsequent grants must have fulfilled the conditions of their previous VITAL minigrant(s) and must have demonstrated the success of those projects.
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Grant applications for summer 2008 projects will not be considered for funding if the applicant has received a 2008 Summer Research Fellowship from Villanova's Office of Research and Sponsored Projects. Applicants to the Undergraduate Research Program, other ORSP-sponsored grant programs, or outside funding sources should so indicate. Applicants may receive summer stipends from only one funding source.
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Awards are made contingent upon the agreement of each recipient to fulfill the specific conditions noted in the award letter and to submit a written report and evaluation of the project within 30 days of the project’s completion.
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Requests for compensation in the form of summer stipends will receive more favorable consideration than requests for teaching load reductions, which remove the faculty member from the classroom.
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Courses affected by the project must be offered during the current or subsequent academic year, except in unusual cases.
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Project funds normally may not be used to purchase equipment, materials, or services already available on campus or that are expected to be provided by departments.
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All expenditures related to the project must be handled according to University policies and procedures.
VITAL Minigrant Selection Committee Members
Lowell Gustafson, Political Science
Frank P. Maloney, Astronomy and Astrophysics
Marycarol McGovern, Nursing
Charlene Mires, History
James C. O’Brien, Mechanical Engineering
Bruce Pollack-Johnson, Mathematical Sciences
Raymond Taylor, Marketing
2007 Minigrant Award Projects
For a list of the projects funded last year, click here.
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