Alumnae of Northwestern University Award for Curriculum Development
Faculty may apply for an Alumnae of Northwestern University Award for Curriculum Development. The award is intended to support faculty work over the summer to develop innovative course materials, new courses, or new modes of teaching, including online education that will benefit our undergraduates. While the Searle Center is not involved with the award selection, we are happy to work with faculty interested in pursuing this award (consulting on course design, teaching methods and activities, assessments etc).
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Student-Faculty Interaction Grants (SFIG's)
Students and faculty members can apply for the Associated Student Government Student-Faculty Interaction Grants. These grants provide funds that enable you to build meaningful experiences for your students. Grants will be available for undergraduates in a number of settings: your classes, seminars, advising groups, residences, and other places. We hope to inspire you to invite undergraduates and professors to cultural affairs, meals, and other intellectually enriching events to foster a sense of camaraderie and community at Northwestern.
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Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) Initiative
Open Educational Resources (OER) Grants
The Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) initiative invites faculty to apply for grant funding to explore the use and creation of open educational resources (OER) for undergraduate courses.
OER are free educational materials that provide faculty the freedom to adapt and distribute course materials without restrictions and at no cost to students. In addition to grant funding, librarians will be available to provide faculty with individualized curriculum and technology support for identifying, using, adapting, and publishing open educational content.
Funded by the Office of the Provost and the Libraries, these grants will support faculty who are interested in using, adapting, and remixing open access research and educational materials in order to reduce course materials costs for students and highlight the pedagogical power of OER. No experience with OER is necessary to apply. Applications are due April 15, 2019. (View more information about this grant)
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Fellowship for Digital Learning
All faculty are eligible for nomination to submit nominations and applications for:
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Diversity and Equity Awards and Grants: Call for Nominations and Applications
All faculty are eligible for nomination to submit nominations and applications for:
- The Provost Awards for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Equity
- The Provost Grants for Faculty Innovation in Diversity and Equity
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Searle Innovative Teaching Grant
As part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing teaching and learning, we support faculty, staff, post docs, and graduate students who wish to experiment with new ways to help and encourage students to learn.
Our innovative teaching grant can be used for:
- New courses
- New course materials
- New methods of assessment or evaluation
Eligibility
Northwestern faculty, staff, post-docs, and graduate students are eligible to apply. Applicants should not have received an innovative grant from the Searle Center for 3 years prior to the current application (this does not apply to funds received through other Searle programs, such as the Searle Fellows program). Applicants must be officially teaching the course for which materials are requested.
Applicants are required to attend a relevant program, short course, or set of workshops offered by the Searle Center prior to their application. Such programs and short courses include, but are not limited to:
- Searle Faculty Fellows program
- Graduate Teaching Fellows program
- A selection of related faculty workshops or graduate workshops on teaching and learning.
Applicants are encouraged to consult with a senior member of the Searle Center about their projects prior to submission.
Proposal guidelines
Proposals will be evaluated according to rationale, the innovative quality of the project, preliminary evidence, and the overall assessment plan for the project.
They should be no more than five double-spaced pages and should include the following information:
- Rationale: Clear explanation of critical teaching question or problem that you are trying to address and support for the importance of the problem from relevant literature.
- Description of the innovation: What are your learning objectives/expected outcomes? What will students be able to do as a result of their encounter with this project, course or material? What are the learning activities students will engage in to help them meet these goals?
- Pilot evidence: Preliminary indication that the proposed project will help students develop intellectual abilities more effectively than previous methods. This may be evidence from the literature or from your own teaching experience.
- Detailed assessment plan: How do you plan to assess whether learning objectives/desired outcomes have been met? Identify specific methods, instruments etc.
- Sustainability: What are your plans to extend this innovation, if appropriate, beyond the funding period?
- Detailed budget: How will grant funding be allocated?
Please note: Standard Small Group Analysis is offered by the Searle Center free of charge, but more tailored assessment and evaluation (e.g. pre-post surveys, focus groups, conceptual checks, observation, interviews, etc.) must be written into the budget.
The Searle Center has a pool of specially trained teaching consultants (advanced graduate students) who may be hired to conduct SGAs (budget $16-18/hour), although you may want to hire your own student if you need specialized technical support, data collection, or analysis.
Awards
Available funding may vary, but successful applicants will receive between $1000 and $1200. Some examples of how funds may be used include innovative teaching materials (including some software), payment for student assistants, and training fees. There are some restrictions on how funds may be allocated:
- Rationale for including each item to be funded must be clearly indicated in assessment plan.
- We are not able to fund faculty salaries or computer hardware.
- Only in certain cases will conference travel be funded.
Please consult with Searle Center staff if you have questions about funding.
Follow-up report
Within a year of the money being granted, awardees are expected to submit a short report (two pages) that details how the funds were allocated and identifies the project outcomes.
Submission Process and Deadlines
The Searle Center directors will review grant proposals on a rolling basis. Proposals should be submitted to Susanna Calkins. Late applications will be reviewed at the next deadline. Applicants will be informed of their status within three weeks of the deadline.
