Instructional Innovation Grants

Instructional Innovation Grants provide financial support for instructors interested in enhancing their teaching knowledge and skills for inclusive teaching excellence.

Overview

The program provides up to $500 in reimbursement for travel, technology, instructional materials, and stipends for speakers.

This grant will provide funding for a variety of professional development and curricular activities including integrating innovative technology into the curriculum, attending an interdisciplinary or disciplinary-specific teaching conference/workshop, or inviting guest speakers. Proposals that demonstrate sustainable and interdisciplinary benefits to teaching and learning at Illinois State will have priority for funding.

Expenses eligible for reimbursement by this grant program include:

course materials to support instructional innovations
travel costs associated with attending or presenting at a professional conference focused on teaching and learning (e.g., airline fares, registration fees)
Honoraria or travel expenses for speakers who contribute to ongoing discussions central to course content and student learning

Important note: If funding is being requested to purchases software or online services for teaching and learning, the purchase needs to vetted in conjunction with the campus’ information security office. Funding will not be released until a Data Usage Form is approved.

Request Timing

Grant applications are reviewed rolling basis until all the funding is dispersed in the academic year.

Eligibility

All with teaching responsibilities at Illinois State University are eligible to apply for these funds. Individuals are eligible to receive one Teaching Support Grant each semester, contingent on available funding for the fiscal year. An individual may apply multiple times if not funded for earlier applications. Recipients of prior Center for Integrated Professional Development grants who have failed to meet grant obligations are ineligible.

Conditions of the Grant

Acceptance indicates agreement to submit a report (detailed below). This process will help us share outcomes of Center grants to the ISU community. Reports will be posted on the Center's website. Completion of this condition is required to remain eligible for future grants.

Grant reports (200-300 words) should include:

A brief description of the grant-related event, activity, or project.
A summary of your grant project's outcomes could integrate findings from data collected using the assessment method(s) identified in your grant proposal.
A brief reflection of how the grant activities have affected your teaching practices and student learning.

Application

Applications should be submitted online and include the following:

Project overview and outcomes
Describe the specific pedagogical need or innovation that your project will address. Additionally, describe the specific outcomes you expect from your project and how you measure the outcomes.

Assessment
Describe your plan to assess the outcomes of your project and its impact on student learning (e.g., what data might you collect and how would you use it). (200 word limit)

FITE Dimensions
Describe how your project aligns with one or more dimensions from the Framework for Inclusive Teaching Excellence.

Equity
Include your reflection on how this project affects students from diverse backgrounds and how you’d address inequities this project may produce.

Dissemination and sustainability
Describe your plan to disseminate your findings from this project.

Additional Support
Describe whether the project described in this grant application requires support from the school, department, college, or university. If additional support from campus entities is required, please include the statement of support from the respective entities. For example, if technical support is required, please include the statement of support from the college IT departments.

Budget
Itemize the amounts for various expense categories (e.g., contractual, or commodities expenses, registration fees, etc.).

If our grant does not fully fund your entire project, please submit a statement of support for additional funding sources. Additional funding sources include but are not limited to your department/school/college, other grant opportunities, and funding partners. You can attach supporting documents to the application form or e-mail them to mnakamu@ilstu.edu. Please specify the dollar amount sought from each identified funding source.

Note: Proposals should address these components using clear, jargon-free language that will allow the reviewers, who are likely not specialists in your discipline, to understand exactly what innovation you are considering, how it will impact your teaching and student learning, how you will assess that impact, and so on.

Evaluation Criteria

The reviewers at the Center (or designated external reviewers) will evaluate applications based on an evaluation rubric.

Questions?

Email ProDev@ilstu.edu for assistance.