The AAC&U provides a helpful definition of Inclusive Excellence consisting of four elements:
1. A focus on student intellectual and social development.
2. A purposeful development and utilization of organizational resources to enhance student learning.
3. Attention to the cultural differences learners bring to the educational experience and that enhance the enterprise. (Cultural differences include race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, first language, physical and learning ability, and learning style.)
4. A welcoming community that engages all of its diversity in the service of student and organizational learning.
We invite faculty and staff to propose a project that seeks to advance the ideal of Inclusive Excellence. As examples of what may be funded, faculty and/or staff may:
• Propose to design a new course that leverages the evidence base on inclusive teaching
• Redesign an existing course with new approaches, or develop specific course components (e.g., assignments, assessments, learning experiences), to support diverse learning pathways, or to overcome a teaching challenge related to Inclusive Excellence
• Design programs or organize events in their department and/or division, or across departments and/or divisions, to support Inclusive Excellence
• Create structures and new initiatives (e.g., online modules, enhanced tutoring programs) to assist a diverse group of students with developing effective learning strategies or skills, or to reduce opportunity/achievement gaps between specific groups of students
• Attend workshops or conferences aimed at creating more inclusive teaching and research environments for students, or acquiring training in evidence-based research around equity, inclusive pedagogy, cultural competency, stereotype threat, and unconscious bias
• Create learning communities centered on evidence-based teaching, assessment strategies, or student development theories related to Inclusive Excellence (e.g., blind grading, proactive advising)
Eligibility
All faculty in any discipline, and staff with teaching/learning/advising responsibilities at Wellesley are eligible to apply. Joint applications are welcome.
To be eligible for funding, the proposed project must:
• Include a plan to assess the impact of the proposed activity on students’ learning and other relevant outcomes (e.g., engagement, reducing opportunity gaps).
• Include a plan for sustaining the project’s activities after the funding lapses. (Funding is one-time.)
• Include an itemized budget requesting no more than $5,000 per project for single unit projects (e.g., one department) and no more than $10,000 for multi-unit projects (e.g., a collaboration between multiple departments and/or programs, or a collaboration between a department and the Division of Student Life).
Proposal Submissions
Submit your proposal via the Inclusive Excellence web application
Proposal Template
The web application will prepopulate a template for your Inclusive Excellence proposal that will contain the following required items:
1. Project Title—brief, but descriptive
2. Description of the project and its goals
• What specific aspect(s) of Inclusive Excellence are being addressed by this project?
• If the project impacts students directly, what will students know or be able to do as a result of this project? [What specific improvements do you hope to observe? List the key learning outcomes/objectives related to the project.]
• In this section, make sure to highlight the purpose of the activity and its proposed impact.
3. Basic information about the project
• What is the project’s timeline?
• Who will lead the project, and more generally, who will be involved?
• For projects involving a teaching or assessment innovation in a specific course: Is this a new or an existing course? When do you plan to teach the modified version of your course (e.g. Spring 2020)? What is the expected number of students per semester or per year that will be impacted by this project?
• For projects involving a teaching or assessment innovation in a program, department, division, or some combination of these: When do you plan to implement the program (e.g., Spring 2020)? Will this program target a specific group of students (and if so, which groups)? What is the expected number of students per semester or per year that will be impacted by this program?
4. How will I assess the project?
• What assessment method will be used to determine if the objectives/outcomes of the project have been met? Where applicable, assessment data might be collected through tests, projects, assignments, interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc.
5. How will I sustain the activities after the funding runs out?
• Please include a brief description of your tentative plans. You need not have cemented your plans at the time you submit your proposal. However, proposals with a well-thought-out plan for sustaining the activities will be more compelling.
6. Detailed budget, including categories of expenditures and estimated amounts. Eligible expenses directly linked to the project may include the following:
• Stipends for student research/teaching assistants (include expected number of hours and hourly rate).
• Stipends for faculty graders or scorers.
• Pedagogical or assessment-related materials and supplies related to the development of an innovative teaching or learning approach included in the project.
• Expenses to facilitate collaborations with other institutions, external experts, etc.
• Travel and registration fees for seminars, workshops, or conferences directly related to the teaching or assessment innovation addressed in the project.
• Travel and registration fees to disseminate, in appropriate conferences or venues, the outcomes or final results of the project.
• On a case by case basis, we will consider requests for a modest stipend for faculty time during wintersession and/or the summer. Describe the nature of the work involved and time required (how many hours of work over how many weeks).
If your proposed project will involve PLTC academic support components (e.g., tutoring), these will need to be included in your budget. Please include an estimate of the costs of such activities. Roberta Schotka (rschotka@wellesley.edu), PLTC Director of Programs, has offered to assist you in estimating these costs.
[1] Williams, D. A., Berger, J. B., & McClendon, S. A. (2005). Toward a model of inclusive excellence and change in postsecondary institutions. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/mei/williams_et_al.pdf