Faculty Teaching Group Grants

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, in partnership with the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, is pleased to provide this grant program to support Virginia Tech faculty members who would like to explore a topic related to higher education teaching and learning in a small and interactive learning community. The primary goals of this grant program are 1) to encourage faculty members to form collaborative support networks within or outside of their home departments and colleges at Virginia Tech and 2) to encourage exploration and discovery related to teaching and learning in higher education.

Faculty Teaching Groups will receive a grant of up to $2,000 toward their proposed goals. Approximately five grants will be funded each year.

The program supports the exploration of a range of topics related to teaching and learning. For example, the recent Faculty Teaching Groups' topics included

supporting/mentoring early career university teachers,
creating cross-discipline experiences in study abroad,
developing learning experiences that incorporate multiple disciplines,
incorporating R programming and data analytics in the classroom,
exploring teaching and learning practices using telemedicine in clinical veterinary and medical education programs,
building an online community among students, and
creating a discipline-specific and university teaching-focused learning community with an emphasis on peer observation and reflection.

Faculty members are invited to form a group of 5-10 other faculty members at any rank and submit a proposal for an academic year-long program of their own design that is focused on the above goals. Groups should have a designated convener who will serve as the main point of contact for the group and will facilitate and participate in the collective work of the group. Faculty Teaching Group funding will be transferred to and managed by the designated group convener's department. Funds may not be used for salary, hardware, software, equipment, and/or capital improvements. All expenditures must be in accordance with Virginia Tech policies and procedures.

A final report of the Faculty Teaching Group's activities and outcomes will be due one year after the proposal deadline. Final reports must be submitted using the online final report form. In addition, group members may be asked to participate in a workshop or an evaluation activity to improve the program. Groups who have applied for or received this grant in the past are eligible to apply again this year.

Proposals for the 2023-2024 grant program should be submitted electronically with this Google Form on or before September 1, 2023, for consideration.

Proposals will be assessed based on the following criteria:

Creation of a collaborative support network of faculty
Advancement of faculty members’ teaching goals
Development of the group members’ understanding, exploration, and discovery of best practices for teaching and learning in higher education
Articulation of clear and achievable goals for the group
Positive impact on the individuals, group, and broader teaching and learning community at Virginia Tech (and possibly beyond)

The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost maintains the Faculty Writing Group Grant program, which supports faculty groups focused on research and writing productivity. More information about the Faculty Writing Group Grant program can be found on the program's website.

Example: Group A

Goal: To explore effective teaching and learning practices in winter session courses

Group members will meet regularly to discuss the challenges and opportunities for teaching in the compressed, winter session format. The group will identify several challenges to explore in-depth, and the group members will volunteer to lead monthly meetings for discussion and resource sharing on each topic. The group will meet three times in the fall semester and three times in the spring semester. This work will result in a list of best practices for teaching and learning in winter session to be shared with the group members and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to be distributed to the university-wide teaching community.

Participants

Faculty Member A: Department of Accounting and Information Sciences (Pamplin)
Faculty Member B: Department of Chemistry (COS)
Faculty Member C: Department of Communication (CLAHS)
Faculty Member D: Department of Computer Science (COE)
Faculty Member E: Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation (CALS)

Estimated Budget*

Professional development funds for each member: $200 x 5 = $1,000
Books: $500
Food for six meetings: $500
Total: $2,000

*All expenditures must be in accordance with Virginia Tech policies and procedures.

Example: Group B

Goal: To explore strategies for effectively incorporating peer mentoring into courses

Group members will explore ways to successfully create, implement, and sustain a peer mentoring program at the course level. Members of the group plan to read a common book on peer mentoring on higher education, and each member will lead a meeting throughout the semester. In addition, the group members plan to register for an online workshop about best practices for peer mentoring programs. In addition to participating in the workshop, the group will meet three times during the fall semester and three times in the spring semester. The primary outcome of the group’s work is for each member to have a plan for developing or improving a peer mentoring component for his or her course.

Participants

Faculty Member A: Department of Philosophy (CLAHS)
Faculty Member B: Department of Computer Science (COE)
Faculty Member C: School of Neuroscience (COS)
Faculty Member D: Industrial Design (CAUS)
Faculty Member E: Department of Mechanical Engineering (COE)

Estimated Budget*

Online workshop registration for each member: $300 x 5 = $1,500
Common reading book for each member: $50 x 5 = $250
Refreshments for six meetings = $250
Total: $2,000

*All expenditures must be in accordance with Virginia Tech policies and procedures.