Faculty Development
Faculty Development Funds
Provost Office
I. The Faculty Travel Fund
Faculty travel grants support faculty travel to professional meetings, workshops & professional development. Subject to available funds, the University will provide money ($2,000) to support faculty travel to professional meetings to enable faculty to present papers, chair sessions, or serve as discussants and/or to provide for professional development of faculty. While, priority is given to those presenting papers, the University encourages faculty travel to professional meetings, even when one is not making a presentation.
Travel for programmatic purposes, e.g. for training session, continuing education, licensure, or programs for credit is not funded through the Faculty Travel Committee. Faculty should process requests for such travel through their Dean, who shall have the discretion to allocate or not allocate funding. The Dean may not allocate funds for any travel that falls under the purview of the Faculty Travel Committee.
II. Special Session Faculty Development Grants
The University makes available several Special Session Faculty Development Grants to promote scholarship and curriculum development efforts by faculty members. The Faculty Development Board encourages scholarship and curriculum development proposals from faculty at all stages of their professional development. The Faculty Development Board (FDB) shall award stipends of up to $3,000 to successful candidates.
Please note that only scholarship or curriculum development projects will be funded. Ordinarily, the development of a single course will not be funded. Curriculum development projects require support of the department.
Information is posted in September for Intersession Grants and in January for Summer Grants
III. The Provost's Faculty Enhancement Awards
The Provost's Faculty Enhancement Awards are intended to encourage, support, promote and recognize the efforts of faculty who strive for, and achieve, distinction in teaching, scholarship and service, as well as excellence in numerous areas of interest to the University. In January of each year academic deans, department chairs, and all full-time faculty are asked to nominate faculty members for these awards. The Provost Advisory Group will assist the Provost and the Associate Provost in making the final determinations. The award consists of a stipend of $1,500 and a plaque that will presented at the Faculty Appreciation Dinner.
- The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award: This award is designed to recognize the efforts of faculty who strive for excellence in teaching, make extraordinary efforts to enhance student learning and who practice teaching as a form of scholarship.
- The Scholarly Publication Award: In light of the University's goal of promoting faculty scholarship, the University is pleased to recognize the special efforts of faculty who strive for, and have attained, distinction in scholarship and creative activity.
- The University Service and Leadership Award: This award is designed to recognize the efforts of faculty who strive for excellence in service to the University, the profession and the community and who demonstrate academic leadership by effective mentoring of junior colleagues.
- The Global Competency Award: This award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated noteworthy academic leadership in integrating international issues/perspectives into the curriculum and through whose efforts, students have acquired the competencies, attributes and insights required to meaningfully and successfully participate in an increasingly interdependent world.
- The Interdisciplinary Award: This award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated noteworthy academic leadership in promoting and strengthening cross-disciplinary or interdepartmental teaching and learning endeavors. The award honors a faculty member who has developed creative/innovative interdisciplinary or integrative pedagogies as a means of connecting and enhancing the learning experiences of students. The successful applicant will be a scholar who systematically works across disciplines and departmental boundaries to enable students to confront real world challenges and experience the relatedness of knowledge.
- The Sustainability Award: This award recognizes the efforts of faculty who strive for excellence in teaching about sustainability and who make extraordinary efforts to introduce that essential concept into the curriculum. The award is given to a faculty member who is actively engaged in developing, promoting and strengthening curricula that ensure that when students leave the University of Scranton, they will possess the awareness, competence, skills and insights to appreciate and/or advance sustainability in a local and global context.
- The Diversity in Learning Award: This award recognizes the efforts of a faculty member whose efforts to integrate diversity in the curriculum have enriched the students' learning experiences. The successful applicant will be able to show that in the course of her/his teaching, s/he incorporates a broad mix of perspectives reflecting the richness of our pluralistic society, including substantial readings about ethnic, racial, class, religious and feminist issues. She or he shall also have a well-developed approach for addressing different learning styles and teaching to cognitive diversity. The award is a special recognition of the faculty member's efforts to ensure that when students leave the University, they will possess the competence, awareness, skills and insights required for successful participation in our pluralistic society.
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The Community-Based Learning Award: This award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in community-based learning (CBL) pedagogy as demonstrated by meaningful integration with course or program content that incorporates integration of theory with practice, direct engagement with community members, and personal and critical academic reflection. The recipient has a thorough understanding and appreciation of community issues and prioritizes developing ongoing commitment to reciprocal, collaborative relationships with community partners. This award is a special recognition of the faculty member’s efforts to incorporate and advocate for CBL and to enhance The University of Scranton’s contribution to the common good.
- The Mission and Justice Award: This award honors a faculty member whose special efforts ensure that students have a keen understanding and appreciation of the realities of the world, including pressing justice issues in a local, national and global context. The award recognizes the efforts of a faculty member dedicated to the service of faith and the promotion of justice, as it relates to his or her teaching (including therein efforts to develop courses and programs and to select texts that address contemporary faith and justice issues). The successful applicant shall be one who continuously, vigorously and increasingly integrates seminal issues of justice into his/her teaching, scholarship and service. The award is a special recognition of the faculty member's efforts to ensure that when students leave the University of Scranton, they will possess the awareness, competence, skills and insights to critically reflect on prevailing social, political, economic and cultural issues and, they will be able and willing to take action on behalf of justice.
IV. The Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Fund (The Clavius Fund)
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Fund (The Clavius Fund) supports the interdisciplinary engagement of faculty as they develop a greater understanding of the relatedness of knowledge by working across disciplines and institutional or departmental borders. The Interdisciplinary Seminar Fund (or Clavius Fund) is designed to promote interdisciplinary engagement and to foster a greater sense of colleagueship across departmental lines by creating settings in whereby diverse faculty can explore a topic of mutual interest from divergent perspectives.
Faculty seeking funding for proposals are encouraged to provide a statement describing how their proposed project shall accomplish one or more of the following goals:
- Strengthen cross-disciplinary and inter-departmental collaborations in scholarship, teaching and learning.
- Promote the integration or incorporation of diverse intellectual, social and cultural perspectives into curricula;
- Advance the development and/or implementation of interdisciplinary or integrative pedagogies;
- Foster the development of integrative models of knowledge;
- Facilitate the development of student learning outcomes regarding integrative learning and in assessing integrative teaching approaches.
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Fund is coordinated by the Provost's Office in conjunction with the Faculty Development Board. Each successful seminar proposal will receive a grant of $1,500 which may be used to promote campus-wide interdisciplinary engagement.
V. Distinguished Professors Award
Every other year, eligible full-time tenured faculty may apply and compete for Distinguished Professor Award. The successful applicant will be an eminent and exemplary university citizen who has enriched the institution and the academy through the highest levels of excellence in teaching, research and service for at least six years after the attainment of full professorship.
Distinguished Professors are entitled to an annual stipend of $5,000 ($25,000 over five years) for their research, academic travel and other scholarly pursuits.
More information about applications and nominations is available by calling the Provost's Office at 941-7520.
VI. Decanal Faculty Development Funds
Faculty can apply for limited professional development funds through their respective deans. Ordinarily, deans use these limited funds to fund emergency or ad hoc requests for professional development that do not normally fall within the parameters, guidelines or timelines of the more routine professional development options. These funds may not be used for purposes covered by the Faculty Travel Fund.
VII. Miscellaneous Opportunities for Professional Growth - Time Reassignment, Leaves, Tuition Remission and Loans
- Academic Year Released Time
Released time is a reduction in teaching load granted for curriculum development, research projects, or other special projects that are recommended by the Department Chairperson to the appropriate Dean. The Dean makes the final decision. The request should be made at least one year before the academic year in which the released time is to be granted.
A sabbatical leave is a release from normal faculty responsibilities for a specified period of time and for a specific academic purpose from which both the faculty member and the University benefit. A sabbatical may be taken for one full academic year or for one regular semester. A faculty member is eligible for sabbatical leave during or after the seventh year of service dating back to initial appointment or a previous sabbatical. (For example, newer faculty are eligible for sabbatical in the seventh year, hence would ordinarily apply in the sixth year of service.)
Please note that availability of a sabbatical leave may depend upon the department's ability to handle the course load during the faculty member's absence.
Normally a faculty member on a one year sabbatical leave receives one half of his/her salary. As of September 1, 2006 a faculty member may request a greater salary supplement up to 70% for a one-year sabbatical. A justification for the request may be made to the Provost/VPAA through the Faculty Research Committee at the time the sabbatical application is filed. (See The Faculty Handbook for more information.)
- Special Chair Support and Compensation
A department chairperson will receive, upon successful application for a sabbatical leave, two summer research stipends in lieu of summer teaching if said chairperson has served at least two consecutive terms immediately prior to the start of the sabbatical.
- Leaves of Absence
A leave of absence is an uncompensated release from teaching for a specific period of time, normally one year. Leaves may be granted to faculty who have been invited to participate in special projects or visiting professorships, or who are completing degree studies elsewhere. Leaves may also be granted for personal emergencies. In all cases, granting a leave is dependent upon the ability of the department to handle the course load during the faculty member's absence. (See The Faculty Handbook for more information.)
- Tuition Remission
Faculty receive, as part of their benefit package, full-tuition scholarships for any University of Scranton catalog course.
- Faculty Educational Loan Program
The Faculty Educational Loan Program is intended to provide assistance for full-time, tenure-track faculty who need assistance with the tuition cost of their doctoral studies. Faculty who wish to apply for such assistance must follow the published procedures for making application to this program, and complete the corollary loan application and promissory note, both of which are available in the Payroll Office. The guidelines and procedures of this policy are listed under the Academic Policy Handbook on the Provost's web site.
Office of Research Support and Sponsored Programs (ORSSP)
VIII. Internal Research Grants
The University offers faculty the opportunity to obtain research funding through various Internal Research Grants. These grants are intended to assist faculty with meeting expenses related to their scholarly research with the exception of travel to professional meetings and payment of faculty salary. Of particular interest are proposals that have the potential for securing future extramural funding. Expenses related to scholarly research (excluding the faculty member's salary and travel to professional meetings) are eligible for funding up to $2,000 for an individual proposal or $3,000 for a collaborative project. http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/provost/research/index.shtml
IX. Faculty Grant Writing Support
To promote faculty scholarship, the University, through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) provides support for faculty in securing extramural funding for research activities, including assistance in the grant writing process. ORSP also provides limited financial support for faculty engaged in grant writing. ORSP helps faculty identify funding sources and provides assistance with proposal development, writing, budget preparation as well as support during the submission, review and approval process. Throughout the year, ORSP presents various workshops, including workshops for new faculty, on grant-writing skills and other research-related topics.
Further information about the ORSP grant-writing workshops can be accessed at http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/provost/research/index.shtml
X. Presidents Fellowship for Summer Research
The University of Scranton will offer ten undergraduate students summer research grant awards, two of these will be dedicated specifically to projects that stem from the Humanities (one award) and Social Service (one award). The Office of Research Support and Sponsored Programs will administer the program. The $3,000 stipends are offered to provide students with the opportunity to engage in a research project with a full-time faculty mentor during a ten-week period. In addition to the $3,000 student award, $500 will be allocated for materials or student travel. Also, a $1,500 honorarium will be awarded to each faculty mentor.
Undergraduate students who will continue full-time undergraduate study at The University of Scranton are eligible for a summer research stipend. Given that the proposals are of the same quality preference will be given to those candidates who have not received this award previously.
Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.00 at the time of proposal submission and at least a B+ in the student's major. (Students who do not meet the criteria may also be considered for an award on the recommendation of their faculty mentor.) To receive the award, students must be free of academic and disciplinary restrictions at the end of the Spring semester.
Application forms and guidelines are available on the ORSP web site at http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/provost/research/index.shtml
XI. Research as a High Impact Practice (rHIP)
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is pleased to announce the availability of funding to promote high-quality faculty-mentored experiences in research and scholarship for our undergraduate students. Proposals are expected to support new or ongoing faculty student research projects that focus on the creation of an undergraduate research/scholarship experience for the student resulting in student learning outcomes, such as inquire and analysis, critical and creative thinking, and foundations and skills for lifelong learning.
To this end, the proposal submitted should be a collaborative effort between the student and the faculty member, with the student providing a project description, and the faculty member providing specific information about potential learning outcomes. Students fromall disciplines are encouraged to apply. Although research project funding needs vary greatly between disciplies, we expect that the average award will be appoximately $500. Requests that exceed that amount will require justification.
Applications are due in early November. Please contact Therese Kurilla at therese.kurilla@scranton.edu for further information.
Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE)
XII. Teaching Enhancement Grants
Grants of up to $1,500 are available to full-time faculty interested in enhancing their teaching skills. The grants can be used for a variety of pedagogical purposes such as purchasing teaching materials, attending a conference to improve teaching, sponsoring a workshop for faculty on campus, redesigning a course, and creating an interdisciplinary course. Funding is prioritized to support classroom teaching pedagogy.
Teaching materials/equipment purchased with grant funding reside in the faculty member's department. Successful applicants will be asked to do a workshop for the CTE in the future.
Application materials and guidelines can be found on the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) web site at http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/ctle/
Library
XIV. Information Literacy Stipend
The Weinberg Memorial Library offers five stipends of $500.00 to faculty interested in working with Reference Librarians on integrating information literacy outcomes into their courses. The stipends will be to develop information literacy skills for students. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Competency Standards will be used as a guide to help faculty integrate information literacy into their courses.
More information about applications and guidelines will be posted on the Libraries Website
http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/wml/infolit/stipends/index.shtml
XV. Affordable Learning Implementation Grants
The library awards $1,000 Affordable Learning Implementation Grants to successful full-time faculty applicants that commit to replacing for-cost course materials with Open Educational Resources (OER) or appropriately licensed Library resources that are free for students to use. Award money does not need to be used for purchasing course materials. The Library also reserves up to $200 for each successful applicant to recommend the purchasing of resources to be added to the Library’s collection that can be used by students for the Affordable Learning course. Upon completion of the course, recipients submit a report documenting the impact that the Affordable Learning Implementation Grant had on their course(s) and if they are planning to continue using OER or Affordable Learning materials again. Final reports are submitted to the Dean of the Library and will be published on the Library’s website. For more information, email affordablelearning@scranton.edu or visit the Affordable Learning website at https://www.scranton.edu/academics/wml/infolit/oer-grants.shtml.