Teaching Support Grants
Application procedure
- Proposals must be submitted using our online form. Note: The online form is not designed for you to save your work. If you wish to save the document as you go, we recommend that you compose in your preferred software and cut and paste into our online form.
Deadline:
October 2, 2009 for 2009/2010 projects, funding distributed in December 2009 April 9, 2010 for 2010/2011 projects, funding distributed after July 1, 2010Review Process:
This is a competitive process. In recent cycles, only one third to one half of submitted proposals have been funded, some only partially. Proposers are therefore encouraged to make sure their projects are clearly linked to our strategic goals. All proposals are reviewed by teams of Institute instructional consultants using our Teaching Support Grant review rubric.Funding Amount:
We no longer have set funding parameters for proposals. We do not base our decisions solely on how much money is requested, but we do ask that you be realistic in your request. Many factors impact the funding distribution for the proposals we receive each year (i.e., number of proposals received, quality of the proposals, amount of funds available). Consideration for larger funding requests is based on the breadth of project impact (number of courses, students, and faculty). Successful requests that are outside of the scope of available funds are negotiated to a level that can be supported without compromising the project.- If you are considering submitting a proposal and are unsure of whether it meets our criteria, please contact one of our instructional consultants or call (814) 863-2599 to schedule an appointment.
Project types
Interdisciplinary projects
- Involve multiple disciplines
- Involve multiple faculty and the students they teach
- Click here for more information about this project type.
Disciplinary Community projects
- Focus on a discipline-specific curricular or instructional issue
- Involve multiple faculty from a single discipline
- Involve at least two Penn State locations
- Click here for more information about this project type.
Individual projects
- Involve a single faculty member and his/her students
Examples of allowable expenses
- materials and supplies
- project-related meetings, conferences, or travel
- publication, computing, or consultant services
- reference books and periodicals
- course release time, graduate stipend, or undergraduate wages
Matching funds are not required, but they are an excellent way to demonstrate the unit’s commitment to instructional development and innovation.
Examples of expenses to be covered by academic units
- tuition
- fringe benefits
- other expenses not related to teaching
- travel for scholarly activity or research
Grant focus areas
Project proposals in all areas should address a course or program need, describe methods for assessing the impact of the changes, and provide a plan to disseminate findings within Penn State.
Each project should focus on one or more of the following Institute strategic goals
- Goal I: Promote and support faculty, graduate student, and administrator efforts to develop, enhance, and disseminate instructional knowledge and skills
- Goal II: Help faculty to engage all students in the learning process and take responsibility for their own learning
- Goal III: Foster methodical definition, identification, documentation, and assessment of student learning
- Goal IV: Increase the value of teaching excellence among all members of the university community