The General Education Council invites applications for its 2023-2024 Collaborative Curriculum Development Grants. The purpose of this grant is to support General Education curricular reform and innovation. Proposals may focus on revision or renewal of existing General Education courses or design of experimental courses to expand offerings in high-need areas.

The grants further seek to: support collaboration and build community among faculty involved in the General Education program; improve alignment across sections of General Education courses; support diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility efforts; and improve communication about the General Education program to stakeholder groups.

Grant proposals should be collaborative efforts of three or more faculty. Faculty may be drawn from instructors of a single course (e.g. HIST 225), within a single outcome area (e.g. critical thinking), or across areas/clusters (e.g. The Natural World). Proposals for experimental courses should confer with the relevant coordinator.

Successful proposals will:

  • involve multiple faculty members, with support from the relevant unit head(s).
  • include a clear plan for and commitment to implementation of the project’s planned goals across multiple sections of the relevant General Education course(s). Proposals for experimental courses should address the course’s likelihood of garnering departmental C&I approval and departmental ability to offer multiple sections each semester.
  • explain how the proposal will involve inclusive pedagogy and/or address diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, or accessibility.

Detailed instructions for proposal format and appendices are below. For conversations and questions about proposals, please contact the relevant area coordinator(s).

(NEW) APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 19, 2024.

Send complete applications to gened@jmu.edu.

All grant expenditures must be finalized and submitted to the General Education Office by June 15, 2024, along with a brief (maximum 1-page) preliminary report listing completed and forthcoming activities. Final grant reports are due to the General Education Council by September 1, 2024. Faculty involved in funded proposals may be asked to present outcomes to the General Education Council after projects are completed.

Proposals for General Education Collaboration Grants MUST include the following:

  1. Information Sheet (one page)
    1. Title. Give a brief title.
    2. Director(s)/Participants. Include names of the individual/s submitting the grant proposal and who will be responsible for its implementation (the Director/s) and those other individuals who will have involvement in the grant activity (the Participants). If the specific individuals who will be participants are unknown at the time of the grant submission, then provide the number of individuals that will be expected to participate and the academic units involved.
    3. Give a brief statement concerning the purpose of the proposal and its relevance and contribution to the General Education program. Describe how this proposal benefits students and faculty. If appropriate, describe how the grant will affect what is currently in place.
  2. Narrative (no more than 1000 words)
    1. Activity/Product. If the proposal entails primarily activities, describe the activities to be funded and, if appropriate, give proposed dates for summer workshops/projects. Clearly identify the intended outcomes of the activities. If the proposal is to be used for developing products such as syllabi or teaching modules, then give a detailed explanation of how these will be created. It is strongly recommended that faculty who are developing a new course spend some time interacting with the other faculty teaching in the cluster for the purpose of maintaining coherency within the shared content and/or concepts of that cluster. Cite any relevant sources.
    2. Give dates of relevant activities related to the grant work undertaken and the date of submission of the grant report. The deadline for the submission of grant reports is September 1, 2024.
    3. Deliverables/Product. Please state and briefly describe the outcomes or deliverables that will be shared with the General Education Council.
  3. Budget (see details below)
  4. Signed Endorsement Forms (see details below)
    1. The grant proposal must include completed and signed Endorsements Forms, as needed. Signatures of the grant director(s) and the appropriate Area Coordinators, Department Heads/School Directors, and Deans are required.
Consideration will be given only to those proposals that conform to the above detailed format.

This year’s grants must be expended by June 15, before the 2023-2024 fiscal year ends. Be aware, that in order to pay out stipends in time, work has to be completed by the first week of June. Work may begin at any point after announcements have been made. Typically, grants for general education collaborative curriculum grants range from $2-4K. The total requested varies with the number of participants and the project. Summer grants (for work completed after the spring semester begins) historically use the rate of $150 per day, per person, if appropriate, for faculty on ten month appointments. Individuals who are have 12 month contracts typically do not receive stipends for additional work unless an exemption is needed. Sample grant proposals and budgets from previous years are available upon request to gened@jmu.edu.

 

Please include the following information (you may copy and paste directly into your document).

  1. Name of Applicant(s) Stipend(s)
  2. Name of Participant(s) in addition to applicant(s) and desired stipend(s)
    1. Please identify any individual on a 12-month contract that is included in this proposal. 12-month contract employees cannot be offered a stipend for work that would occur within a typical work week. 
    2. Please identify any individual who is an adjunct faculty member. Stipends and work load must be in compliance with university requirements for yearly hourly average.
    3. If actual names of participants are still to be determined, please make a reasonable guess as to the number of participants.
  3. List an estimated cost of supplies (if any):
  4. Estimated cost of food (if any):
  5. Total budget request:
  6. Date by which budget will be spent: Prior to June 1, 2024.

Please include the following information (you may copy and paste directly into your document). Signatures may be obtained in physical or digital form.

  1. Proposal Title:
  2. Area:
  3. Date of Proposal Submission:
  4. Date of Grant Report Submission:
  5. Abstract or Purpose: 
Area Coordinator(s) Endorsement

 Name

 Signatures

 Grant Director/s:

 

 Name:

 

 Department/School:

 

 Name: 

 

 Department/School:

 

 Name:

 

 Department/School:

 

 Department Head/School Director:

 

 Dean:

 

Please include the following information (you may copy and paste directly into your document). Signatures may be obtained in physical or digital form.

Title of Proposal:

Area(s) proposal is designated for:

 

Taking into consideration the goals and needs of your Area, rate the proposal applying following scale:

1 (top rating; this proposal will significantly contribute to the area in critical need)

2 (good rating; this proposal will contribute to the area in a need)

3 (fair rating; this proposal will contribute to the area but not in an area of specified need)

 

Department & College Endorsement

 

RANKING

Signature

Area 1 Coordinator

 

 

Area 2 Coordinator

 

 

Area 3 Coordinator

 

 

Area 4 Coordinator

 

 

Area 5 Coordinator

 

 

Comments:

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