Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Teaching and Learning at Penn State Grants

The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence invites proposals that advance teaching for equity and inclusion at Penn State. These grants support projects that have the potential to influence teaching and learning in a program, department, school, division, college, or campus.

The lead for the proposed project should be a faculty member of any rank or title at any Penn State location (including teaching, clinical, tenure-line, and part-time). Collaborators may include faculty, students, staff, and administrators.

The funding cycle is the academic year and all spending must be complete by May 15. We expect proposals to range $2,500-$6,000. Award amounts above $6000 are rare but may be considered in cases where the potential impact is significant. Please review the spending restrictions at our grants webpage.

Timeline and Submission Process

If any of the dates below fall on a weekend, the deadline shifts to the next workday.

Step 1: Before April 1

Please meet with a Schreyer Institute Consultant to discuss your initial ideas in a pre-proposal consultation. Before your consultation, please review what we cannot fund on our main SITE Grants page.

Your pre-proposal consultation may be face-to-face, via Zoom, or by phone.

Step 2: Before April 15

Please send your Schreyer consultant a brief (<300 word) paragraph (not a proposal!) describing the project as you currently envision it. The paragraph should state why the project is important, how it advances equity and inclusion in teaching and learning, and identify project collaborators.

Step 3: By May 15

You will hear by May 15 whether your project has been selected for development into a full proposal. If a program, department, college or campus submits multiple proposals, SITE may contact administrators to rank proposals.

Step 4: By June 30

If you receive an invitation to submit a proposal you will have six weeks until full proposals are due at the end of June.

Final Decisions

On or before July 30 funding decisions will be sent to submitters.

Examples of fundable items

Requested funds must be directly related to and support the proposed project. Budgets need to be itemized and justified. The amounts should be based on current costs; generic items or estimates such as "$1000 project equipment" should not be submitted. Please review funding restrictions.

• Guest speaker for a group of faculty (all travel costs should be included in the honorarium)
• Student wages, if the work advances teaching or improves students' learning (include wage and hours in budget)

Proposal Review Criteria

This is a competitive process and decisions are based on the following factors:

• Likely impact on equity and inclusion in teaching and learning in the unit
• Alignment with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence Mission
• Specific and necessary budget items (only request what you need)
• Proposal clarity and quality, especially the quality of learning objectives (see Writing Objectives)
• Total number of proposals and amount requested
• Available funds