Teaching and Learning Development Grants

Funds are not available for this grant for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

Goal: To support faculty innovation and excellence in teaching and learning and sharing of results with the Illinois State University campus community.

Overview

Teaching-Learning Development Grants support faculty engaging in substantial projects involving innovations in teaching and learning. Individuals are eligible for up to $1,500 and teams up to $2,000.

Eligibility

All tenured and tenure-line faculty, full-time non-tenure track instructors, and AP staff with teaching responsibilities at Illinois State University are eligible as individual applicants or a team members. Graduate students are eligible as team members. Note: An individual may be listed on only one application for each round. Recipients of prior CTLT grants who have failed to meet their grant obligations are ineligible.

Amounts of Grants

Grants can be up to $1,500 for individual applicants or up to $2,000 per team of two or more applicants. Number of grants and amounts of individual grants are subject to availability of funds. Funds are available upon grant acceptance.

Application Materials and Procedures

Application deadlines occur three times a year:

• Fall Term: 4th Friday in September
• Spring Term: 4th Friday in February
• Summer Term: 4th Friday in May

Applications should include the following:

1. Applicant(s) information:
   Name, rank, department, campus mail box, email address, phone, etc.
2. Abstract
   A brief (75-100 words) description of the project rationale, procedures, and goals. This will be used to share information on grant projects with the campus on the CTLT website and other publicity outlets.
3. Narrative (recommended length: 800-1000 words)
   Describe the project in language understandable by someone outside your discipline.
   • Detail the project’s specific pedagogical goals and explain their importance.
   • Explain the project’s anticipated impact on student learning and why it is expected to be positive and substantial.
   • Explain your plans to assess the outcomes, including specifics such as data collection method(s) and data analysis methods.
   • Explain how the applicant(s) and others could use the project outcomes to improve their teaching practices.
   • Explain why the project is not a part of your normal and regularly expected duties.
   • Identify other sources of financial support for this project, if any, or state that you have received no other sources of funding.
4. Budget
   Indicate amounts for various expense categories: salary, contractual, and/or commodities expenses. Requests for equipment will be given lowest priority and approved only when the rationale is compelling and the equipment essential. Travel may be included if it is completed on or before June 1 of the current Fiscal Year (June 1 of the following Fiscal Year for Summer Term applications).

Evaluation Criteria

A committee will evaluate applications based on the degree to which each:

• Clearly addresses all of the application narrative elements specified above.
• Presents a compelling project of sufficient scope and ambition to merit a grant. Specifically, evaluators will examine applications for evidence that a project involves a substantial investment of time and effort and incorporates an instructional innovation that promises to yield valuable outcomes for students, applicants, and the ISU teaching community.
• Presents an itemized budget and strong rationale for the budget.
• Is well written and complete.

Requirement of Grant Recipient(s)

Accepting this grant represents a commitment to prepare and present the outcomes of your project at a panel session or poster session at the annual ISU Teaching and Learning Symposium (held each January). Grant recipients must submit proposals in response to the Call For Proposals issued each fall. Presentations for grants received in spring or summer are expected for the next Symposium following grant receipt; presentations for grants received in fall are expected no later than the second Symposium following grant receipt.

This requirement is designed to maximize the benefits of recipients’ experiences by sharing them with the ISU community. Completion of this requirement is required to remain eligible for future CTLT grants.

Important Dates

For recipients allocating some or all of the grant for salary, forms for additional academic payments must be completed and submitted by June 1 in the same fiscal year (except for summer term grants, which must be submitted by June 1 the following fiscal year). Funds must be spent no later than June 1 of the appropriate fiscal year. All receipts for reimbursement and other required documentation must be received at CTLT no later than June 1 of the appropriate fiscal year. Expenses not properly documented by that date cannot be reimbursed.

Questions?

Contact CTLT at (309) 438-2542.