Mellon Innovation Fund
2008-2009 Deadlines: 20 October 2008 and 23 February 2009
Call for Proposals
Bates has established the Mellon Innovation Fund, supported by a $450,000 award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This Fund supports projects undertaken by faculty members to initiate fresh approaches, new directions, and novel undertakings in the College’s academic program and in their research and scholarship. The Mellon Innovation Fund encourages pursuit of faculty members’ work – in projects focused on curriculum development, purposeful efforts to attend to diversity in our professional fields and teaching, and research initiatives – in ways that aim to make a lasting impact on the College. Broadening the College’s attention to innovative and emergent issues, shifting and adding to modes of faculty connections with each other, building consultative and collaborative interactions among members of the campus community are all elements of advancement envisioned in the Mellon Innovation Fund.
Grants from the Mellon Innovation Fund will enable faculty to implement goals put forward in the new General Education program and in the College’s initiative to advance inclusion and diversity in the curriculum and in the campus community through curricular innovations, adoption of new pedagogical tools, and connections with experienced professional colleagues. Mellon Innovation Fund grants will support, as well, post-tenure faculty members’ and senior lecturers’ efforts to initiate scholarly projects and extend the development of their scholarship as part of a long-term career plan at Bates.
The overarching goal of the Mellon Innovation Fund is to support imaginative approaches to advancing faculty development of curricula, pedagogy, and scholarship. Thus, the Mellon Innovation Fund differs from other grant programs because it aims to make space – among ongoing commitments – for creativity, experimentation, and inventive combinations in the academic program and in faculty interactions with each other as scholars and as teachers. The Mellon Innovation Fund encourages collaborations among Bates faculty, pursued for example, in planning for General Education Concentrations and activities seeking to heighten knowledge of a GEC subject area, interdisciplinary approaches, or pedagogical skills. The Mellon Innovation Fund invites faculty to take the college in new directions by introducing new tools, innovative uses of current tools, or by introducing enriched pedagogies that address students’ changing learning styles as well as the shifting demographics of our classrooms and our students’ lives. Imagined as well is the use of the Mellon Innovation Fund to cultivate intellectual and scholarly connections among faculty, inviting others to think with us about our ideas and our work through plans for dissemination of project ideas, activities, or works-in-progress.
The Mellon Innovation Fund supports:
1) the new General Education program, with particular focus on the development of General Education concentrations and their associated courses;
2) the infusion of diversity into all aspects of the academic program, with specific attention to curriculum development around issues of diversity and difference, pedagogical strategies and tools aimed at bringing multicultural perspectives and experiences into the curricula of all programs and departments, and the cultivation of more faculty leaders who champion our ongoing work to help all of our students develop the kinds of knowledge and the capabilities required for full participation in a diverse democracy;
3) scholarship and research by tenured faculty who undertake activities such as long-term research planning, writing scholarly papers and grant proposals, or undertaking the early stages of new research projects.
Funding is available in academic years 2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010. The Fund finances course replacements and summer stipends, faculty development seminars, visits to campus of scholars or experts to collaborate with faculty development seminar participants, travel to conferences that foster innovative initiatives, and research and pedagogy grants. Grants are awarded through a competitive proposal process under the direction of the Committee on Faculty Innovation, composed of faculty from all academic divisions and interdisciplinary programs, including members of the Committee on Faculty Scholarship. Grant programs are described briefly below.
General Education Innovation
General Education concentrations are among the most exciting features of the new General Education program at Bates. The Mellon Innovation Fund enables faculty to capitalize on the energy generated in the planning process and ensure a strong slate of concentrations and their associated courses, both within and across departments and programs. The development and enrichment of concentrations might involve faculty undertaking a seminar-style study of a particular topic, the creation of new courses in support of a concentration, course reductions for attending courses within in a General Education concentration, or faculty research that is centered on the theme of a concentration. The Mellon Innovation Fund grants support stipends, course replacements, materials, travel, and other logistical support necessary for collaboration.
Application Eligibility: All ongoing faculty members, either individuals or groups, and/or in collaborations with other academic offices (e.g., the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the Museum of Art).
Achieving Diversity
Building greater compositional diversity among Bates students, faculty, and staff and attempting to better incorporate diversity as a fundamental component in our educational model are critical to our future. Projects that build faculty relationships with colleagues at institutions with diverse student populations and travel to conferences that foster connections with scholars from underrepresented groups are encouraged as strategies that might begin as or evolve into courses, research, or recruitment opportunities.
Moreover, multicultural competence serves students as citizens and future leaders through broadened critical thinking skills, expanded opportunities for intellectual inquiry, and preparation for social and civic responsibilities. The Mellon Innovation Fund supports faculty development of curricular, instructional, and research initiatives that foster the intellectual centrality of issues of diversity and difference in academic life. The Fund invites proposals to enhance faculty members’ knowledge or scholarship and build their capacity for teaching about diversity. As well, it seeks proposals that aim to support student learning in settings enriched by demographic diversity and multiple perspectives.
Proposals may focus on one or more of these themes:
a) Diversity in the curriculum, particularly proposals to design new or retool existing courses and concentrations and, where appropriate, link them with co-curricular learning activities for engaging students in development of their knowledge of discrimination and privilege as well as how varied cultures conceptualize and respond to racial and/or other life-structuring conceptions of difference.
b) Pedagogical development focused on bringing new materials pertaining to diversity and difference into the curriculum and on augmenting teaching and mentoring techniques that lead to academic success for students from underrepresented groups; instructional skill enrichment aimed at helping faculty members facilitate classroom interactions that nurture all students' capacities for recognizing and addressing challenging topics, for cross-boundary dialogues, and for constructing creative approaches to interaction among diverse groups.
c) Exploration of accessible introductions to scholarship in their field for faculty who are not conversant with how the lens of diversity is considered and developed in their own discipline;
d) Faculty efforts to support the recruitment, mentoring, and retention of students and/or faculty from underrepresented or marginalized groups.
e) Support and recognition for faculty leaders who share their knowledge and skills, motivating colleagues to address issues of diversity and difference in their teaching, research, scholarship, professional activities, and service.
Application Eligibility: Ongoing faculty members, either individuals or groups and/or in collaborations with other branches of the College.
Scholarship and Research
Tenured faculty, both recently tenured and long-standing, face significant challenges in carrying out their programs of scholarship and research at expected levels given relatively heavy teaching loads, intense commitment to working with individual students, and the demands of administrative service. The Mellon Innovation Fund provides opportunities for post-tenure teacher/scholars to pursue scholarship and research by supporting course replacements and research costs for faculty to write scholarly papers; develop new, well designed proposals for outside funding; or, undertake initial pilot-stage research projects.
The Committee on Faculty Innovation invites proposals from individual or collaborating tenured faculty with plans to pursue a new research path or develop a new platform or audience for their scholarship. Novelty for the faculty member’s scholarly endeavors – taking a faculty member’s interest in a subject in a new direction – and a design for introducing fresh ideas or imaginative interactions at the college are components for successful proposals in this category. Again, the distinction between this Fund and others at the College is its aim to support scholarship linked to activities which might create possibilities for institutional innovation in teaching, learning, or other forms of engagement.
Application Eligibility: Tenured faculty and senior lecturers.
For more information, please see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page at http://www.bates.edu/x172944.xml.
Mellon Innovation Fund
2008-2009 Deadlines: 20 October 2008 and 23 February 2009
Application Process
Eligible faculty may apply for support from the Mellon Innovation Fund in three areas of inquiry: General Education, Achieving Diversity, or Research and Scholarship. The committee is aware that areas may overlap. Because projects that involve multiple faculty members will likely take considerable planning and discussion before an application is made and may require considerable time to organize once funding is received, faculty may apply well in advance. Course reductions cannot be considered before Winter 2010. Faculty seeking course reductions and replacements for Winter 2010 must apply to the Division Chairs and Dean of Faculty by their April 2009 deadline or September 2009 deadline in order to comply with the leave and course reduction review schedule of the Division Chairs, who review all course reduction requests.
To apply. Please complete 1) the Application Cover Sheet (word document), 2) a 2-4 page narrative description of the project, and 3) a detailed budget. Applications for research funds must include current curriculum vitae for each participant. In addition, faculty seeking course reductions and replacements must have a written endorsement of their plan by the chair of each department and program in which their courses are listed, to ensure that discussions take place about covering courses, and must also submit the appropriate application and letter of support to the Division Chairs, citing their Mellon Innovation Fund application as possible support.
The application should be submitted electronically as a single PDF document to Mellon-Innovation@lists.bates.edu. This list serve will electronically distribute all proposals to the Committee on Faculty Innovation for review. Area coordinators and Help Desk staff can assist faculty who need help in converting documents into PDF format.
Selection criteria. The Committee on Faculty Innovation reviews the proposals. They consider the following criteria:
~ the quality of the proposal, its completeness and feasibility;
~ the degree to which project design fits the Fund’s goals for innovation, collaboration, and dissemination;
~ the sustainability and potential lasting value of the project;
~ the impact of the project on student learning and/or faculty scholarship;
~the cost effectiveness of the budget and feasibility of the timeline.
Application Cover Sheet. The cover sheet asks for the project title, the faculty person serving as principal contact (for collaborative proposals), the proposed project category, primary project activities, and the start and end dates of the project, as well as the funding requested. In addition, a project abstract of not more than 150 words must be included.
Narrative. Please describe the project and its goals, as well as its importance to the department, program, or General Education curriculum; to the faculty’s pedagogical capacities; to collaborative efforts among faculty and/or other academic entities at the college; and/or to the applicants’ scholarship or teaching. Information on seminar design or research procedures, research venues and travel, technology needs, teaching/learning design should be provided in detail, as applicable. The role of each participant should be described, as well as methods to assess the outcomes of the project. A project timetable should explain how the work will be completed and by whom. The proposal should include a description of the products of the project (e.g. new pedagogical changes and designs, curriculum, syllabi, General Education concentration proposals, research progress) and a plan for sharing these results with other faculty. The narrative should be comprehensible to colleagues outside of the applicants' own discipline(s).
Detailed Budget. The proposal must include a detailed budget of all expenses for the project, and a justification. As applicable, the budget may include:
• Stipends for participants in faculty development seminars
• Materials for seminars
• Travel and honoraria for brief visits by outside scholars and experts collaborating with faculty development seminars
• Travel of faculty members for research, curriculum development, or for cultivation of ties to institutions or professional networks supporting scholars from underrepresented groups
• Stipends not to exceed $3,500 for summer research by faculty
• Research materials (books, data sets, scores, assessment tests, journals, microforms, electronic resources, etc.)
• Communication related to research (phone, fax, mail, subject/consultant reimbursement, etc.)
• Laboratory research (supplies, instruments, consumables, analytical services and testing, etc.)
• Technology (computer software and hardware, digital cameras, video equipment, tape recorders, etc.)
• Supplies and materials for artistic work (visual and performing arts)
• Performance costs (fees for professional actors or musicians, instruments, staging, space rental, etc.)
• Publication costs (typing, editing, graphics, transcriptions, indexing, illustrations, reproduction fees, etc.)
•Course replacements (base-estimate of $8,000 a course)
•Student assistants (research, curriculum development, or editorial assistants)
Grants do NOT normally support:
• Regular living expenses
• Travel or living expenses for family members
• Personal gear (clothing, medicines, and personal items)
Reports. The Mellon Innovation Fund is designed to support creative new approaches to teaching and scholarship with the goal of inspiring the Bates faculty to look afresh at how we do our work. Sharing the work conducted in funded projects is critical to ensuring a broad reach for the program. Though expenses may be reimbursed as incurred, the principal contact of each project must submit a Final Report to the Committee on Faculty Innovation before any faculty stipends can be paid. The Final Report should be submitted within sixty days of the end of the award period. The report should include a brief description of the meetings or seminars held, the collaborative project outcomes (including relevant effects on pedagogy, effects on research or artistic scholarship, and establishment of long-term collaborative connections), and envisioned future collaboration arising (such as possible grant submissions) from work begun during this project. The report should include a description of the products of the project and how these results are being shared with other faculty. For multiyear projects, the principal contact should submit a brief Project Progress Report by June 15 to allow faculty participants to receive partial stipends in accordance with the College’s stipend policy.
A Note on the Program. The Mellon Innovation Fund provides support for a range of faculty activity. It is a new venture, and as such, is a work in progress. Following the first year of grant-making, the Committee will assess progress and may modify the funding available, clarify program parameters, or change the application process. We welcome faculty input on the program and the process.
For more information contact: Pam Baker, Director of faculty Research and Scholarship, at pbaker@bates.edu, 755-5937 or 786-6108 or Leslie Hill, Special Assistant to the President, at lhill@bates.edu, 753-6922 or 786-6459.
Application Cover Sheet (word document)
Application Cover Sheet (pdf document)
Frequently Asked Questions
