Full-time Faculty Development Grants

Full-time Faculty Development Grants are highly competitive. Please read all instructions carefully. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

EFFECTIVE FALL 2011: The Faculty Development Grant committee will no longer accept hard-copy (paper) applications. In our ongoing pursuit of environmental sustainability, we are asking that all applications be submitted as one full .PDF document. (Information about how to combine multiple .PDF documents into one .PDF document can be found here)

The Grant Application requires one digital copy (emailed to CiTE@colum.edu) that includes all of the following pieces of information by 5pm on Friday, March 1, 2013.

• Cover Sheet (PDF or Word Document),

• Narrative Proposal,

• Detailed Project Budget,

• and Current Resume or CV.

Please see detailed information concerning Grant Applications BELOW.

Spring 2013 Review Cycle

Friday, March 1, 2013: Faculty Development Grant Proposals Due via email to cite@colum.edu.
Friday, April 5, 2013: Applicants notified
Monday, April 29, 2013: Written Acceptance Due to Maggie Ritter / CiTE
Wednesday, May 15, 2013: FDG Funds Distributed via Payroll Direct Deposit (grant recipients should view their paycheck via the IRIS system to verify the funds have been distributed)

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. More information about support for significant projects using technology to enhance teaching and learning can be found through the Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence's Technology Fellowships page.

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 Columbia College Chicago 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 Narrative Statements and Detailed Project Budgets from recent successful grant proposals (in .pdf format). Please note that submitted proposals must also include the Cover Sheet and the Applicant's current CV/Resume:

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.

CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF ELIGIBILITY:

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

Faculty Development Grants support such expenses as:

Travel for necessary research (at most economical rates);
Essential research materials (books, journals, digital resources) not easily available through campus sources;
Laboratory research (supplies, instruments, consumables, analytical services);
Essential technology, not easily obtained from other campus sources (computer software and hardware; digital cameras; tape recorders; digital supplies);
Essential supplies and materials for artistic work (visual and performing arts);
Performance costs (fees for professional actors or musicians; instruments; staging; space rental);
Publication costs (typing, editing, graphics, transcriptions; indexing; illustrations, reproduction fees).

Faculty Development Grants do NOT support:

Faculty salaries, stipends, or honorariums;
Routine living expenses during period of work or research;
Travel or living expenses for any family members or companions;
Any personal items not essential to the specific scholarly or creative endeavor.

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.

GENERAL DEADLINES:

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

1st Friday of October:
Grant proposals due for review by Committee.
2nd Friday of November:
Notification of Grants by Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Last Monday of November:
Written acceptance of grant due to the CiTE, along with any requested clarifications or emendations.
Mid-December:
Awards distributed.

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

1st Friday of March:
Grant proposals due for review by Committee.
1st Friday of April:
Notification of Grants by Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Last Friday of April:
Written acceptance of grant due to the CiTE, along with any requested clarifications or emendations.
Mid-May:
Awards distributed. 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 Innovation in 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 digital format only -- Forms for the Cover Sheet can be downloaded here as a PDF -- to The Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence (cite@colum.edu) by 5:00 on the date of the deadline.
Application Deadlines: See above.

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 one digital copy, emailed to CITE@colum.edu, of the following four components:
1. Cover Sheet (PDF or Word Document).
  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.
4. A current resume or curriculum vitae

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 Innovation in Teaching Excellence: cite@colum.edu.