GLCA New Directions

We have just completed the third year of the New Directions Initiative, a funding opportunity for mid-career faculty, with two years to go.  The New Directions Initiative is a program established by the Great Lakes Colleges Association, made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.  Quoting from the Call for Proposals (attached), it is aimed “to support the renewal and continued professional growth of liberal arts faculty members in `mid-career’ – the extensive professional period between receiving tenure and thinking seriously about retirement.”

This is an especially innovative granting opportunity, as it is explicitly asking faculty to think in new directions, to cross boundaries, and to explore new intellectual or pedagogical paths.  This grant is only available for “mid-career” faculty, but non-tenured faculty may participate as part of a team of faculty led by a tenured faculty member.  Attached is a Call for Proposals, and an FAQ about the process.  More information can also be found on the GLCA website:

http://glca.org/programs/new-directions-initiative

Here is a summary of the awards granted to College of Wooster faculty thus far–there are some exciting projects!

Deadlines for applications are as follows:

Proposal Submission Deadline Full Proposal Response by
October 1, 2012 December 3, 2013
December 10, 2012 February 18, 2013
January 22, 2013 March 25, 2013
March 25, 2013 May 27, 2013

 

Heather Fitz Gibbon (Dean for Faculty Development) is the campus facilitator for the New Directions grant.  In this capacity, she is available to advise on any proposals, provide feedback, and serve as a sounding board for ideas.  Please do not hesitate to contact her about any proposal ideas (x2576).

Internal Procedures

If you do choose to submit a proposal, please make sure you do the following:

1.  Submit a draft of the proposal to the Dean for Faculty Development.  This is not for approval, but simply to provide the opportunity for comments and for the Academic Affairs office to know about the applications that are being submitted.

2.  Include an Institutional Awareness Form.  If there are no institutional obligations (i.e. course creation, facility needs, course release), simply check the box “no” and attach it with the proposal.  If there are obligations, you will need to have the form signed (check the appropriate box and fill in the name) by the Department Chair.  The Dean will then forward it to the Provost and return it to you for submission.

3.  Submit the proposal as an attachment, with the completed Institutional Awareness Form to the New Directions Program Officer (Simon Gray).  Please label the attached file with your name–i.e. “FitzGibbon-New Directions Proposal.doc” and “Fitz Gibbon – Institutional Awareness Form.pdf”.

4.  The GLCA is also interested in compiling a database of faculty interests in order to facilitate collaborations.  We would greatly appreciate it if you would complete the Faculty Interest Form and send that as well to Simon Gray.

Attached here as well are the following: