WELLESLEY COLLEGE

Committee on Educational Research and Development

General Grants
 

Deadlines: September 17, 2007, November 5, 2007, February 4, 2008 and April 7, 2008
 Purpose

ER & D Grants are intended:

  • to support the development of a new or experimental course;
  • to extensively revise an existing course;
  • to support travel to conferences specifically related to teaching;
  • to allow participation in a workshop or class related to the subject that you teach.

Possible uses of the grant include:

  • developing an experimental course that is innovative in terms of subject matter or pedagogy or both;
  • attending a conference focusing on pedagogy in your field;
  • enrolling in a workshop that teaches a skill that you could use to improve your courses;
  • using the support of instructional technology;
  • using research assistance for course development;
  • developing a new lab/course;
  • purchasing special materials for classes.

 Amount

Subject to committee approval, up to $3000 per instructor is available per year. Replacement units to departments must be authorized by the Dean's Office.

 Applications

Please e-mail your proposal to the committee conference, ERD. Applications should consist of a 1-2 page proposal explaining your travel proposal and/or your needs for the new course or course revision and how your teaching and students will benefit. Include an itemized budget indicating what you need and how funds will be spent. In your application, please include:

  • name, department, rank, years at Wellesley
  • description of proposed course (if applicable); faculty should consult with home departments before submission
  • description of the conference or event (if you need travel funds)
  • how you expect that your own teaching will benefit
  • how you plan to share what you learn
  • a proposed budget and justification, (expenses should be as exact as possible).

 Eligibility and Limitations

  • All instructional faculty may apply.
  • Unless you are directly involved in a panel related to pedagogy, these grants do not cover travel to research conferences in your field, even if the general subject matter is related to your teaching. They are meant to complement rather than supplement the travel money available through Faculty Awards; travel supported by Faculty Awards will normally be ineligible for support by ER&D.
  • The Committee cannot accept retroactive applications for travel already completed.
  • Proposals requesting computer hard- or software should first be presented, via e-mail, to the Director of Instructional Technology. A copy of this communication should accompany your request.
  • Proposals requesting films on cassette or DVD, books, monographs, music CDs, interactive media and other one-time library purchases should first be presented to the Manager, Collection Management Group in Clapp Library. A copy of this communication should accompany your request. After completion of the project, the materials should be turned over to the Clapp Library for general college use.
  • Grants may not be used for student or faculty entertainment, or for assistance with faculty research.
  • In some cases, it will be possible to extend or renew the grant for the same course with a new application and itemized budget.
  • Preference will be given to proposals for travel that will affect more than a small group of students or benefit the teaching of more than one person, i.e. going to a conference and coming back with ideas and materials that will help a whole department or some other group within the College. The Learning and Teaching Center can work with faculty members to help them figure out how best to share what they have learned. For the same reason, the Committee will give preference to proposals from faculty members who have not been funded for such travel recently, and requests from faculty in their last semester of teaching at Wellesley will not normally be approved.