Resources

Course Development Grants

The Dean of the College is pleased to announce the availability of course development funds thanks to grants received from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Davis Educational Foundation. We invite faculty to design a new course or revise an existing course that falls into at least one of the following categories:

  • Problems of Practice (PoP) courses allow students to take their learning outside of the classroom to investigate complex questions, problems, or challenges that have significance beyond the borders of Clark’s campus (see below for attributes of PoP courses).
  • Curriculum to Careers (C2C) courses help students see connections between a liberal arts education and post-graduation success through the intentional integration of career related learning outcomes (see below for attributes of C2C courses).

Funding Availability
There are three levels of funding. Faculty and instructors may request up to:

  1. $3,500 to develop a new course. Applications are due 2/11 for fall 2022 courses.
  2. $1,500 to redesign an existing course. Applications are due 2/11 for fall 2022 courses.
  3. Mini grants (up to $500) to enhance an existing course by inviting a speaker, organizing a field trip, or other types of course enhancements (applications are accepted on a rolling basis).

Course development and redesign funds may be used for summer salary, hiring a TA or PLA, stipends for community partners to assist in designing or delivering curricular elements, supplies, equipment, and course-related events during the semester when a course is offered.

Faculty Learning Communities

Faculty who receive new course or course redesign grants will be invited to participate in a learning community to engage in collective problem-solving and to share practices with other recipients. The learning communities will be supported by CETL, CCC, and the Dean of the College and will involve 3-4 meetings during the semester in which the course is offered.

 Eligibility

All Clark faculty are eligible to apply including tenure-track and tenured, clinical faculty, professors of practice, adjuncts, lecturers, visiting faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students teaching undergraduates at Clark.

To receive funding, the proposed new or redesigned courses must:

  • Be approved by UAB as a Problems of Practice or Capstone course and/or a C2C course (UAB approval is not required prior to applying)
  • Priority consideration will be given to courses that carry the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) designation
  • Include a plan to assess the impact of the course on students’ learning  outcomes
  • Include an itemized budget
  • Have department chair approval, including a statement that indicates how the new course aligns with the department’s curriculum and/or how the course serves the department.

The strongest course development and redesign proposals would describe courses that departments would offer again and that would not require continued funding to run.

 Proposal Submissions

You will submit your proposal through this Qualtrics link. The template is below so you can prepare your materials. Please note that the proposal aligns with the UAB course proposal and course revision forms and includes several additional questions to facilitate funding decisions. The description of these course categories follows the template (next page).

Click for full guidelines

For more information about Course Development Funds, please contact Laurie Ross, Director of Clark’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL):  lross@clarku.edu or 508-793-7642.

Template (enter this information into the Qualtrics link.) 

  1. New Course Proposal Form or Request to Change an Existing Course form submitted to UAB
  2. Description of the course and its goals
    • Describe how this course fulfills the learning goals of PoPs, D&I courses, and/or C2C courses.
    • Who, other than yourself, will be involved in teaching the course (e.g., community or industry partners)?
  3. What will students know or be able to do as a result of completing your proposed course?  List the key learning outcomes/objectives related to the project.
  4. How will you assess learning? 
    • What assessment method(s) will be used to determine if students’ learning outcomes have been met? Where applicable, assessment data might be collected through tests, projects, assignments, interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc.
  5. Detailed budget, including categories of expenditures and estimated amounts. Eligible expenses directly linked to the project may include the following:
    • Faculty or community partner stipends
    • Research assistant for course development
    • TA or PLA for instructional assistance
    • Materials for course development and instructional activities
    • Instructor professional development or training related to the course
    • Other

Mini grant Proposal Template (rolling deadline)

  1. Describe the course including how the course fulfills the learning goals of PoPs, D&I courses, and/or C2C courses. Describe your mini grant request. How will your course enhancement advance students’ learning?
  2. Detailed budget, including categories of expenditures and estimated amounts.