Instructional Grants

The center accepts proposals for grants twice each academic year. The proposal submission deadline for fall semester funding is March 15 with funds transferred around July 15. The proposal submission deadline for spring semester funding is October 15 with funds transferred around January 15.

Grant proposals must be submitted by the appropriate deadline (see above) to be considered for funding. Proposals must be submitted using the online submission form. Incomplete project proposals will not be considered. The grant proposal form asks for the grant project information below as well as contact information for the primary author, additional authors (if any), the primary author's department head/chair (and an acknowledgment of the head/chair's awareness of the proposal), and the primary author's fiscal manager/technician. The form also asks for the IRB status of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant proposals. 

• Project Title: Provide a short and descriptive title.
• Project Description: Provide a brief narrative that contextualizes the proposed project for a reader that may not be familiar with the author's discipline or interdisciplinary perspective. Establish the need for the project based on current scholarly literature related to teaching and learning in higher education. Provide a description of how the project will help meet the need.
• Impact on Student Learning: Provide a statement that highlights the projects’ potential impact on student learning at Virginia Tech [*for SoTL grant applicants, discuss the learning-focused research question(s)].
• Objectives: Provide specific student learning-focused objectives for the proposed project. 
• Implementation Plan: Provide a description of how the project’s objectives will be met. 
• Assessment and Evaluation Plan: Provide a detailed description of how the project's objectives will be assessed and evaluated. 
• Dissemination of Results: Provide a description of how the results of the project will be shared with the teaching and learning community at Virginia Tech and/or beyond.
• Budget: Provide a detailed budget for the full amount requested from the center. (See the Grant Funding and Spending Restrictions section below for more information about grant project funding.)

Each complete proposal will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Significance of Proposed Project: Does the proposed project address a significant need in teaching and learning in higher education? Does it have the potential to make a significant impact on student learning at Virginia Tech?
• Appropriateness/Feasibility of Proposed Project: Does the proposed project represent an appropriate response to the described need and is project completion likely given the available resources?
• Adequacy of Assessment and Evaluation Plan: Does the proposal provide an evaluation plan that is aligned with the proposal's objectives and that explains how the project's effectiveness will be assessed? 
• Feasibility/Appropriateness of the Sharing of Results: Does the proposal identify appropriate and feasible outlets for sharing the results of the project with the teaching and learning community at Virginia Tech and/or beyond?
• Appropriateness/Completeness of the Projected Budget: Does the proposal provide a detailed budget that accounts for all of the funds requested?

Grant recipients must submit a final report that highlights the completed project’s (a) activities, (b) general results, (c) specific impact on student learning, and (d) ways results have been shared with the teaching learning community at Virginia Tech and/or beyond. The final report is due no later than one year following the relevant instructional grant proposal due date (i.e., if one applies to an October 15 due date, the final report is due October 15 of the following year; if one applies to a March 15 due date, the final report is due March 15 of the following year). Final reports must be submitted using the online final report form.

Common instructional grant proposal budget items include (but are not limited to) instructional materials/equipment, project-specific consultations/expert support, and undergraduate or graduate student support for project-specific work. Grants will not fund conference travel, course buyouts, summer salary, or general office supplies. Funding is provided to support teaching and learning enhancements at Virginia Tech.

Grant funding is transferred as E&G funds to the primary author's department to be spent on the fiscal-year cycle. All expenditures must be in accordance with Virginia Tech policies and procedures. Grantees are responsible for working with their departmental fiscal managers to ensure grant funding is spent within the fiscal year and in accordance with Virginia Tech policies and procedures. The primary author of the grant proposal is responsible for communicating any changes to the budget outlined below, including the inability to spend funding before the end of the fiscal year or changes to budget items, to the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in a timely manner.