2008 General Education Course Development Grants Competition

Total award amount, $120,000

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the fifth annual grant competition for projects to enhance the content and/or teaching of courses proposed for the General Education curriculum.

Awards:  Awards may vary in amount, ranging from $1,000 up to a maximum of $10,000 per course, which may be applied to summer salary, a reduction in teaching of one or two courses or other course related expenses. This amount is inclusive of fringe benefits and a budget is required to justify expenses.

Preliminary Informational Workshop: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 12pm-1pm, Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE) Room 134.  Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to GEOC@uconn.edu by February 1.

Proposal Deadline:  Friday, February 29, 2008

Who May Apply:  Regular tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty from any University of Connecticut campus.  An application may be submitted by one or more individuals, but must have the support of a sponsoring program or department that expects to offer the course at least once per academic year for several years at one or more of the UConn campuses.  The program is open to faculty in all disciplines.

Evaluation Criteria: A proposal may focus on developing a new course or significantly enhancing the content or pedagogy of an existing course. It should explain very clearly not only that but how the course meets UConn’s broad goals of general education as well as the specific criteria for a content area (Arts/Humanities; Social Sciences; Sciences; Diversity and Multiculturalism) and/or competency (W, Q) as described in the GEOC Guidelines. Please consult http://geoc.uconn.edu/geocguidelines.htm.  Learning objectives and ways of assessing them must be outlined. Successful proposals will be expected to serve as a model for future efforts in strengthening the general education program. 

While proposals will be considered for any part of the general education curriculum, this year applications that focus in the following areas will be favored.

• 1000 or 2000 level W courses open to all majors.

• Courses demonstrating student-centered teaching approaches.

• Proposals directed at improving student learning in large enrollment GenEd courses, particularly in the sciences, and Q courses. These may employ active and engaged pedagogical approaches, for example the case method.

• Proposals intended to enhance global learning (see the report of the Developing Global Citizens Task Force, http://provost.uconn.edu/reports/).

• Fine Arts courses.

Proposal Format and Submission:

The suggested proposal format can be found at http://geoc.uconn.edu/ProvostCompIndex.htm. The text of the proposal should be no more than two pages (at least 10 pt font, 1 inch margins) and include a clear statement of the objectives of the project, its relation to the general education requirements, and a plan for the evaluation of the objectives once the course is offered.  Each proposal should include a completed budget form together with a statement of support from the appropriate program director(s) or department head(s). An electronic copy of the proposal should be sent to GEOC@uconn.edu with the Subject Line “Provost’s General Education Course Development Grant”. Successful proposals from previous competitions can be found on the GEOC website: geoc.uconn.edu.

Evaluation Committee:  Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty and representatives from the office of Undergraduate Education and Instruction.

Project Timetable:

February 29, 2008 Proposal Deadline.

Late March 2008 Awards announced.

Fall 2008 Proposal submitted to GEOC for inclusion in the new general education curriculum in time for the 2009/2010 catalog.  The project need not be completed or near completion at this time.

April 2009 First year progress report due.

AY 2009/10 Course taught.

May 2010 Final report due.

For further information contact Katharina von Hammerstein (Chair, General Education Oversight Committee) at von.Hammerstein@uconn.edu or (860) 486-1532.