CFP General Education Innovation Fellowship

Call for Proposals

The Office of Academic Affairs, the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Munday Library, and the Office of Instructional Technology of St. Edward’s University invite proposals from faculty for the 2018 General Education Innovation Fellowship.

Deadline for Submission: November 15, 2017

These fellowships will support faculty who need time, resources, and/or expertise to develop new or heavily revised courses for our new general education curriculum. We encourage applications that focus on a variety of pedagogical innovations and experimentation in the context of our General Education Renewal (http://sites.stedwards.edu/seugened/). The fellowship will provide a $1000 stipend and the opportunity to be part of a community of faculty fellows focused on pedagogical innovation and professional development.

To find out more, scroll down or use this index to jump to a specific section of the CFP:

Courses

These fellowships are designed to support faculty creating new or substantially revised courses to meet course development guidelines for the following components of the general education curriculum to be taught in the 2018-2019 school year:

  • Courses
    • Freshman Seminar
    • Quantitative Reasoning
    • Natural Sciences
    • Diverse American Perspectives
    • Global Perspectives
    • Exploring Artistic Works
    • Creativity and Making
    • Culminating Experience
  • Mission Markers
    • Writing-Rich Courses
    • Experiential Learning for Social Justice
    • Social Identities

Fellowship Activities and Requirements

Innovation fellows will:

  • Serve as St. Edward’s General Education Innovation Fellows from Spring 2018 – Spring 2019;
  • Receive a $1000 stipend*;
  • Participate in the Innovation Fellows Faculty Learning Community
  • Participate in a one-day retreat, January 9, 2018
  • Participate in four working meetings (once a month) during the Spring 2018 Semester
  • Develop, redesign, or modify a course or major course component for the 2018-2019 academic year to be included the in the new general education curriculum. See the projects of previous fellows for models of course development or redesign.
  • Apply for inclusion in the general education curriculum
  • Apply for new course approval if needed
  • Meet with chair and/or dean to discuss/secure support for new course
  • At the beginning of the semester in which the course will be taught, submit a revised syllabus as well as a brief narrative description of its pedagogical innovation;
  • Maintain a digital portfolio to develop and reflect on the fellowship project;
  • Meet with Innovation Fellows cohort once per semester in the 2018-2019 academic year to share experiences and learn from one another;
  • Share models and accomplishments from the fellowship with other faculty, e.g., in presentations, discussions, or through the pedagogical commons.

*The stipend will be disbursed upon completion of required fellowship elements: $500 for participation in professional development sessions in Spring 2018, $250 for submission of brief narrative description and syllabus of course that includes pedagogical experimentation developed during fellowship, and $250 after the course is taught and required assignments (assessment and reflection) have been submitted.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the Innovation Fellowship or would like to discuss possible projects, please contact:

  • Rebecca Frost Davis, Director of Instructional and Emerging Technology, rebeccad@stedwards.edu
  • Jennifer Jefferson, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, jennej@stedwards.edu

The Proposal Process and Submission Deadline

To apply, please submit your proposal to the Innovation Fellowship box folder, by uploading it here. Applications are due November 15, 2017.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates include tenure and tenure-track faculty members. As part of the application process, all members must provide a letter of support from their department chair and dean saying that this course will be offered as part of the new general education curriculum.

Proposal Format

The proposal should not be longer than four pages excluding the cover sheet, letter of support from your chair (with dean’s endorsement), bibliography, and appendices. You should address the areas below in clear language, avoiding jargon that will not be well understood outside your field.

Each proposal should include the following information:

I. Faculty Name, Department, School, Rank

  • Contact information: Email & phone
  • Course number and title
  • Semester and year course will be offered
  • Confirmation of face-to-face participation at the Innovation Institute: all day meeting on January 9th and one Friday afternoon a month throughout the Spring 2018 semester.

II. Abstract

  • In 250 words or less describe the project, its significance, and its potential for application broadly.

III. Proposal Narrative

The narrative of your proposal should address the following categories.  The questions below each category suggest the type of information sought.

  1. Description of pedagogical experiment.
    • What is the context for your pedagogical experiment? Which course will you be developing or redesigning? What is the nature of your development process? (What will you be changing about this course if you have taught it in the past or what significant pedagogical innovation will you be pursuing?) Please share any relevant bibliography or models for this pedagogical approach, as well as any existing course syllabus in an appendix. (Eligible courses should be taught in the 2018-2019 Academic Year.)
  2. Goals, objectives, and scope of pedagogical experiment.
    • What do you want to accomplish during the Innovation Fellowship? What are the tasks and outcomes involved in this course redesign? Describe the goal(s) and objectives that the proposed pedagogical experiment will accomplish. Please be specific about how this project will benefit your work at St. Edward’s and how it contributes to the mission and strategic goals of the University.
  3. Contribution to the General Education Renewal Process.
    • Please outline how this course contributes to the general education renewal process. Be sure to highlight how this course will fit into the new general education curriculum, how it meets school and department needs, and how it meets the needs of students in your major.
  4. Feasibility for your pedagogical experiment.
    • How will the innovation fellowship help your meet your goals? What role does this fellowship play in helping you develop your course to align with the General Education framework? How feasible is your pedagogical innovation given the parameters of the General Education guidelines?
  5. Potential impact on learning.
    • How will you develop your course material to aid your students in receiving a well-rounded general education experience? How will you determine that your course has met the Student Learning Outcomes(SLOs) for your part of the general education program? Make sure to address how you are planning to accomplish the goal(s) or objectives specified in part 1 of your proposal. Your final fellowship report should include analysis of this assessment and recommendations for the future. Potential fellows may wish to consult with the Center for Teaching Excellence, Instructional Technology, or Director of Institutional Assessment to develop assessment plans. Innovation Fellowship applicants are encouraged apply to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in advance so that they may use the results of this experiment in their future scholarship.
  6. Potential dissemination plan.
    • What are your plans for dissemination resulting from the pedagogical experiment? All Innovation Fellows will be asked to share their experiences with their general education course development with the St. Edward’s community through activities sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence: the Teaching Symposium, workshops devoted to general education course development, or blog posts that can aid their colleagues. Would you pursue presentations and/or publications beyond the St. Edward’s campus? Fellows are strongly encouraged to disseminate through disciplinary associations, publication, and other opportunities external to St. Edward’s University. If applicable, Innovation Fellows should apply for a presidential excellence award to develop scholarship of teaching and learning based on their experiment in the summer following their fellowship. Innovation Fellows should also plan to apply to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in advance so that they may use surveys and other assessment data from this experiment in future presentations and publications.

IV. Letter of support from your department chair with dean’s endorsement.

The letter of support from the department chair with a dean’s endorsement should indicate the following:

  • Departmental and school support for this general education course, proposal, and for the Innovation Fellowship candidate.  Chairs and deans should outline their reasons for supporting this proposal, including how this project will advance the goals of the department, school, and/or university, as well as how it will support the professional development of the faculty member.
  • Confirmation that the course in question will be offered by the Innovation Fellow candidate in the 2018-2019 academic year as part of the general education curriculum.

The Review Process

A committee composed of the following will review proposals and make recommendations for the selection of fellows:

  • Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence
  • Director of Instructional and Emerging Technology
  • Director of General Education
  • Interim Director of General Education

The review committee follows an established review practice:

  • Copies of the proposals are circulated to all members of the committee for review.
  • Committee members read each proposal and rank them, adhering closely to the proposal criteria.
  • The committee then meets and holds an in-depth discussion of the top-ranked projects, leading to a final consensus decision based on both the scoring and the discussion.

Criteria for acceptance include:

  • Description of pedagogical experiment
  • Goals of the experiment and connection to the Holy Cross mission and strategic goals of the university
  • Potential contribution to general education renewal
  • Feasibility of the proposed experiment
  • Potential impact on student learning
  • Potential dissemination of course development process