Funds available for faculty to develop enhancements to instruction

Summer teaching grants are available to provide time for full-time faculty to engage in projects that will result in significant enhancement of instruction.

To be eligible for a grant, faculty applicants must be employed full-time by Western Washington University for the 2011-2012 academic year and have a contract (or formal agreement of full employment with the university) for the academic year after the grant period. Priority will be given to tenured and tenure-track faculty members. Summer teaching grant recipients can earn no additional income from WWU during the summer (except payment for a five-credit or equivalent course).

The Faculty Development Grants Committee in evaluating proposals for the summer teaching awards considers the following criteria: applicant eligibility, adherence to stated guidelines, value of the proposed activity, probability of the applications' results enhancing the instructional quality of the university's academic programs and the opportunity for future professional development of the faculty member. Policies are periodically reviewed by the Faculty Development Grants Committee and funding recommendations are made to the vice provost for research.

In a proposal for course development, each applicant must demonstrate that the enterprise is beyond what is normally expected. Summer teaching grants do not fund the updating of a course to include the latest information in the field or incorporating new technology. Also, building an electronic version of the course is not within the guidelines for the grants. Proposals should make the case that significant effort is needed to develop a course that is new or different from existing courses in significant ways.

The proposals should assume that not all the reviewers are familiar with the details of individual programs and should contain sufficient background information to assist the reviewers, such as: Where does this course fit within the curriculum? Why is it important to change the curriculum in this way? How does this development go beyond what is normally expected of a faculty member for course development? How will this course better serve the students? the department? the university? Are there university or department or program resources to support the course once it is developed? What other resources are needed to support the course?

The committee also takes into consideration the recommendations of the chair and the dean. Awards are limited to once every other year.

Proposals are due to academic chairs by Oct. 6. Proposals should be given to deans by Oct. 13 and to the vice provost for research by Oct. 20. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Application instructions are available on the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs website.

All applications must include the following information:

• STG 2012 Cover Sheet
• Proposal Narrative (NOT TO EXCEED TWO PAGES): Description of intended work, explanation of project's importance and methods to be utilized, and expected results or outcome
• Selected bibliography, where appropriate
• Current curriculum vita (with emphasis on teaching experience and areas of interest and or research)

Please use paper clips and binder clips to secure materials instead of staples