President’s General Education Initiative

Teacher Scholar Grants for Innovative Course Development

Request for Proposals for Spring 2011 Initiative

In the spirit of the Queens College Strategic Plan, which seeks to make our new General Education curriculum a “nationally recognized model,” the Office of General Education is pleased to announce the second annual request for proposals to enhance teaching and learning within and across the General Education curriculum.  The grant supports: 1) the development of new General Education courses, or 2) the redesign of existing General Education courses that have already been approved by the Academic Senate.

The Teacher Scholar grants derive from the recognition that:

• Faculty need support for their efforts to design new courses and to redesign existing courses within the contexts of the new General Education curriculum.
• The implementation of the new General Education curriculum offers us the opportunity to create an intellectual community of full-time and part-time faculty, to enhance teaching and learning, scholarship and research.

Grants up to $2,000 (for individual faculty members) and up to $5,000 (for faculty cohorts within and across departments) will be awarded to proposals that show potential for designing or redesigning effective General Education Perspectives or Synthesis/Capstone courses.

The purpose of these funds is to support the development of innovative and effective pedagogy.  Funding may be used for a range of resources to support course development, which may include, but not be limited to, travel to conferences, both in the U.S. and abroad, research assistants (graduate and undergraduate), course materials, books and DVD’s, technology, and other equipment.

Issues to consider when designing and/or re-designing a course:

• Courses need to be designed to fulfill the promise of the Queens College mission to offer a “rigorous education in the liberal arts and sciences. . . .”

• Courses need to be designed within the promises of the Queens College curriculum, which ensure that students:

1)  will be inducted into the college through a solid first year experience;

2)  will enjoy a set of interconnected Perspectives on the Liberal Arts and Sciences courses, as well as an upper-level Synthesis or Capstone experience; and

3)  will have opportunities to develop a set of interconnected “critical abilities” (e.g., writing, reading, critical and creative thinking, abstract or quantitative reasoning, information literacy skills) throughout their college years in General Education, as well as in the major

·         The engagement of full-time faculty is key to the success of the Queens College General Education curriculum.  Courses that seek to create collaboration between full-time and part-time faculty are encouraged.

Suggestions for Types of General Education Courses to be considered:

• Courses that serve as both introductions to the major and General Education, such as introductory courses to psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, etc.
• New divisional courses that focus on contemporary issues, such as globalization, the financial world, issues in science, social sciences, or the arts and humanities, and schooling in America, through disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.
• Existing courses to be redesigned pedagogically (e.g., new lecture format supported by technology, undergraduate or graduate teaching assistants, breakout sessions).
• Courses offered in multiple sections, taught by new configurations of full and part-time faculty.
• Courses that are focused on improving the role of doctoral students teaching undergraduates in General Education courses.
• Courses that are to be situated within the collaborative structure of the Freshman Year Initiative learning communities, which pair a Perspectives course and a linked Freshman Writing course. If you are interested in teaching in the freshman program, please check the box on the proposal cover sheet.
• Courses that are focused on developing abstract or quantitative reasoning abilities across the curriculum.

Faculty are encouraged to link their research and current scholarship to course development and to think creatively about the ways in which students in these courses can participate actively as experiential learners, writers, researchers, mentors, and generators of knowledge.  Courses that encourage or make room for faculty and/or undergraduate publication are encouraged.

Application Process:  Proposals, due Monday, March 15, 2011 at 5 pm, should be submitted as a single PDF, RTF, or DOC (MS Word file).  See proposal application for details.  

Please send a copy of your proposal to your departmental chair and also to your divisional dean.

Funding period:  April 15 – August 30, 2011.

Eligibility:  All Queens College faculty (full and part-time) are eligible for this award.  

• Individual faculty members are eligible for awards up to $2,000.
• Faculty collaborators within and across departments are eligible for awards up to $5,000.

Review of Proposals: Proposals will be reviewed by a team of administrators and faculty representing the four academic divisions. 

Criteria:  Reviewers will apply the following criteria to their assessment of proposals: 

1) The proposed course that teaches students to develop ways of knowing, methods of inquiry, and problem-solving within particular disciplinary or interdisciplinary domains.

2) The proposal clearly articulates pedagogical strategies to promote students’ critical abilities (e.g., writing, reading, critical and creative thinking, abstract or quantitative reasoning, information literacy skills)

3) The course is designed within the context of the college’s General Education requirements and departmental General Education plans.

4) The proposal outlines a coherent assessment plan.

5) The course outlines a plan for the course to be offered in the Fall 2011 or Spring 2012 semester.

6) The proposal contains a clearly articulated budget request.

Deadline for Proposals:  Monday, March 15 at 5 pm.

Recipients will be notified by Monday, April 15, 2011

Download the Proposal Application here or go to http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/gened/rfp/application.rtf

Submit your Proposal here or go to http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/gened/proposal/

Hard copies submissions may also be delivered to the Office of General Education, Razran 314.

Questions:  Please direct further questions to the Office of General Education for more information: Judith.Summerfield@qc.cuny.edu