Preparing for a productive summer

Since summer grants for the Faculty Scholarship and Development Committee (FDSC) and the Muhlenberg Center for Teaching and Learning (MCTL) are typically due in late-January or early-February, this New Faculty Orientation (NFO) session offered an opportunity for new faculty to obtain information and ask questions about summer grants prior to winter break.

This event involved a panelist of three faculty from different divisions who have served on FDSC, MCTL, and the Writing Program Committee (WPC). Following a panel discussion, faculty were able to ask question and engage with the panelists. A handout with grant-writing tips and a description of all internal grants, with approximate deadlines, complemented this session.

To see a video of this event (Muhlenberg only access) click here.

Tips for Faculty Development and Scholarship Committee (FDSC) Grants:

Make the description of your work accessible to a broad audience. Explain any disciplinary terms used.
Be sure to address the impact of your work within your discipline. Also, address the impact of and
context within your scholarly development.
Adhere to the grant guidelines (page limit, required sections, format, etc).
Take some time to review the outcomes of your work; find a middle ground between realistic and
optimistic.
Be specific with your outcomes. If your outcomes include a conference presentation, publication, or
performance, listing the target journal/venue could be helpful.

Tips for Muhlenberg Center for Teaching and Learning (MCTL) Grants:

Make the description of your work accessible to a broad audience. Explain any disciplinary terms used.
Adhere to the grant guidelines (page limit, required sections, format, etc).
Pay close attention to the intent of the specific grant (pedagogical development vs. new course). For
example, many worthwhile pedagogical development grant proposals are ranked lower because they describe
course content or technological revisions to a course rather than a significantly different pedagogical approach.
Particularly for pedagogical development grants (but may also be relevant for new course grants),
stronger proposals have a clear plan for how they will assess the impact on student learning.

Tips for First-Year Seminar (FYS) Grants:

Present a course summary that starts with the one proposed to be shared with the students; add language
about how your FYS is in dialogue with larger learning goals within the Liberal Arts.
Focus on the need to spend some time in the summer developing a new course: what resources you will
need to review and what materials you will need to generate.