INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING GRANTS

Current Innovations in Teaching and Learing (ITL) Awards

Thanks to generous gifts provided specifically for this purpose, President George Bridges and Provost and Dean of the Faculty Timothy Kaufman-Osborn are pleased to announce the fourth round of requests for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (ITL) grant proposals. These grants are intended to support projects that are to be initiated during the 2012-13 academic year. The deadline for receipt of proposals is November 1, 2011.

The three primary goals of ITL grants are: 1) to enhance the quality, while also expanding the range and accessibility, of learning experiences offered to Whitman students; 2) to provide faculty and staff with opportunities, dedicated resources, and/or release time to develop improvements in teaching, learning and advising; and 3) to cultivate linkages among diverse elements of the academic program, curricular as well as co-curricular. (In this regard, ITL grants are intended to complement, where appropriate, the Cross-Disciplinary Learning and Teaching Initiative [CDLTI], which invites faculty members to develop and participate in cross-disciplinary workshops that enhance the quality and vitality of the academic program of Whitman College [see http://www.whitman.edu/content/provost/initiatives/cdlti]).

The following examples are intended to illustrate but neither to prescribe nor exhaust the range of ITL grant possibilities:

• Faculty members who participated in a CDLTI workshop seek to shape what they learned in that context into a new course or learning opportunity
• Faculty and/or staff members seek to incorporate technological innovations and/or digital learning into some key element of the academic program
• Faculty members seek to develop new approaches to involving students more effectively in their scholarly and/or creative work
• Faculty members seek to develop new courses or pedagogical approaches that enhance achievement of the goals of Whitman’s General Education Program and, more specifically, its distribution requirements
• Faculty and staff members seek to develop new approaches to academic advising
• A department or interdisciplinary program seeks to design and adopt a program of portfolios for its majors
• Faculty and/or staff members seek to develop and test new approaches for assessing the quality of student learning

Because of insufficient staff support, at this time, ITL grants cannot be employed to support departments or interdisciplinary programs that include a domestic or international short-term off-campus study experience for students.

Guidelines for 2012-2013 Innovation in Teaching and Learning Grant Proposals

Grants will be awarded only to those projects that have the potential to effect significant transformations in the learning experiences of Whitman students. Grants will typically range from $500-$10,000 (although grants for larger amounts will be considered if exceptional need can be demonstrated and justified). Grant awards may be expended over a period of up to two years. After two years unused funds will be returned to the pool for new grants. ITL grants may not be renewed. Successful projects created using ITL grants may be continued beyond the project period with support from external sources (grants or donor gifts) or a request initiated through the annual college budget process.

In addition to the cover form (see below), applications should not exceed five (5) typed pages and should include the following items:

1. An application cover form available for download here (ITL Cover Page (.pdf) or ITL Cover Page (.doc))
2. A description of the project you intend to pursue, including an indication of how that project is related to existing courses, curricular objectives, and/or programs of study
3. A rationale for the project that aligns it with one or more of the three primary purposes of the ITL grant program (see above).
4. A budget form detailing projected expenditures and a timeline for completing the project (see below for more details)
5. A description of the expected results or products of the project (e.g. revised course syllabus; planned off-campus experiences; technological innovations; etc.)
6. An indication of what would be required, in terms of staffing, funding, and/or other resources in order to render the results of an ITL grant sustainable for three to five years following completion of the project supported by the grant
7. A plan for assessing the results of the proposed project that addresses one or more of the primary goals of ITL grants (see above). The assessment techniques should be meaningful and concrete, but may be qualitative and/or quantitative.

Submit an electronic copy of the application (including the application cover form) to Susan Bennett, Senior Academic Assistant in the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty (bennetsk@whitman.edu). Please include an updated copy of the CV or resume of each participant.

Budget Guidelines

Support may be requested for travel expenses; conference registration; supplies and equipment; and stipends. Up to $3,000 will be provided for course development. In addition, up to $5,000 will be provided for teaching a four-credit summer course with a minimum of five students. The stipend for a course for which fewer than four credits are awarded will be prorated according to the number of credits (e.g., up to $2500 for a two-credit course). Any equipment purchased with ITL funds will become the property of Whitman College.

For courses offered during the summer, please provide detailed information about the anticipated fees for students, including but not limited to tuition, room and board, travel, and other expenses. We recommend budgeting 39% of the anticipated total student fees as scholarship funds. For example, if you anticipate that 12 students will take the course and that it will cost $3,000 per student, the total scholarship funds that should be reflected in the budget would be $14,040 ($36,000 x 39%).

In addition, if the proposal requires intensive work during the academic year, course release may be requested, but is subject to the provision that introductory courses or courses essential to majors are exempt from the release. Course release requests must be accompanied by written support from the department/program chair and are subject to approval by the Committee of Division Chairs and the Provost and Dean of the Faculty. Any request for a course release must also be accompanied by a statement from the department chair indicating whether it will be necessary to replace the specified course.

Allowable domestic travel expenses may include lodging; ground transportation; registration costs; food; airfare for coach rate only; and mileage reimbursed at current IRS rate. Because of our remote location, a local travel agency can typically get a better fare than an on-line booking service. Two local agencies, Travel Leaders (formerly Greg Jones Travel) and World Wide Travel, will bill the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty directly.

There is a maximum food allowance of $75 a day for travel. Please note that Whitman College does not reimburse on a per diem basis; original receipts are required for all reimbursements. Requests for student travel to present at a conference as a result of an ITL grant should be included in the request.

Selection Process

Proposals will be reviewed by the Steering Committee of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and that Committee will advance recommendations to the Provost and Dean of the Faculty.

Preference in selection will be given to proposals submitted by tenured and tenure-track faculty, Forensics-track faculty, and Senior Lecturers and/or full-time staff members. Participation by other members of the instructional and support staff requires a paragraph explaining how such participation will enhance the ongoing academic program of the College.

Follow-Up

All grant recipients must submit a written report, not to exceed five pages in length, within three months following completion of any given project. Reports should be submitted to the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty, c/o Susan Bennett (bennetsk@whitman.edu). At minimum, in addition to any other pertinent issues, written reports should address the following questions in light of the three primary goals of ITL grants (see above):

• Did recipients complete what they set out to complete?
• What are the products of their efforts in terms of content, format, and public dissemination?
• Do any of these have potential long-term positive effects on the curriculum or academic program more generally?
• How many students were directly involved or indirectly impacted by the grant?
• Did the projects enhance the quality of learning experiences offered to students?
• What evidence do you have that demonstrates impact on student learning (if applicable)?
• What were the limitations or failings of this project, and how, in retrospect, might they have been better addressed or remedied?

Final reports will be reviewed by the Steering Committee of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and no future proposals for ITL grants will be considered if a report from an earlier ITL-supported project remains unsubmitted.

Lastly, grant recipients will present the results of their project to the campus community in the Faculty Forum, the Talks on Teaching sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning, or some other community forum within one semester of its completion.

Please direct any questions you may have about ITL grants to Susan Bennett, Senior Academic Assistant in the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty (bennetsk@whitman.edu); Timothy Kaufman-Osborn, Provost and Dean of the Faculty (kaufmatv@whitman.edu); and/or Lisa Perfetti, Associate Dean of the Faculty (perfetlr@whitman.edu).

Previous Grant Recipients:

2010 Innovation in Teaching and Learning grant recipients
2009 Innovation in Teaching and Learning grant recipients
2007-2008 Innovation in Teaching and Learning grant recipients