New grant program to fund academic innovation projects

Eastern Connecticut State University is set to launch a grant-funded initiative to support faculty innovation. Written proposals for the Academic Innovation Project (AIP) are due Feb. 20, with awards being announced this May. Up to 10 grants will be awarded for faculty projects.

Capped at $12,500, each grant will provide one-time funding for a project that demonstrates the potential for Eastern to invest or reinvest in its academic programs. Examples may include pilot programs informed by research and best practices, curricular redesign, or expansion of existing academic initiatives.

Such projects will provide enhanced student experiences and growth, as well as reinforce Eastern’s reputation as a leading public liberal arts institution dedicated to academic excellence.

Provost Cheryl Wilson, who will provide oversight for the review process, believes the grants will help faculty members showcase their inventiveness. “We have a lot of talented faculty members, and we don't have a process for bottom-drawer ideas to come out,” she said.

She continued: “We have big (academic developments) like a new nursing program or a new lab, and day-to-day things like new courses and curricula, but we don't have anything in the middle that might require some seed funding and a bit of investment and trial.”

Wilson hopes the AIP grants will fund projects that help to revamp the operations of academic departments across campus: “Faculty members are really good at prescribing academic programs that could help students get to the next level or help an existing program be more innovative. Often, what they're not in a position to do is figure out what resources are available to do that.

“This is a chance for proof of concept that we could build into the way a department operates, (such as) a department budget, moving forward.”

Wilson credited President Karim Ismaili for his strong support of the initiative: “There was a desire, very much on the president's part, to help pull those (ideas) out and to create a process for doing that.”

Grant proposals will be vetted by a review committee, headed by Grants Officer Christine Jeffers. Dean of Education and Professional Studies Niti Pandey and Dean of Arts and Sciences Emily Todd will also serve on the review committee, along with faculty members from their respective schools.

Jeffers will create the rubric used to score the proposals. “Each (project requirement) will have a rubric assigned to it, and there will be an aggregate score,” said Jeffers. Certain criteria will be evaluated on a “yes/no” basis; for example, each part-time faculty member pitching a project must have a full-time faculty sponsor to be considered for a grant.

Expenses allowed by the grants include faculty time; student wages; supplies, materials, and small equipment; professional services or consultants; and travel directly related to the project.

In addition to the proposal and award announcement deadlines, finalists for the grants will be announced Feb. 27 and will give presentations to the review committee and Provost’s Council later in March.