The UC Forward Request for Funding (RFF)
The Provost Office invites faculty members to apply for a grant in support of their UC Forward courses. UC Forward courses have an interdisciplinary focus, and they center upon collaboration between students, faculty, and external experts in order to facilitate exceptionally meaningful experiential and interdisciplinary learning.
A key priority of the Academic Master Plan is to enhance the learning opportunities for our students by encouraging them to participate in multi-disciplinary educational experiences. In fact, our General Education model requires 100% of all baccalaureate students to complete an experiential learning oportunity. Recognizing that these types of courses and/or programs may require support beyond that which a college can provide, the Provost is initiating a Request For Funding (RFF) process for UC Forward courses and programs.
What is UC Forward?
UC Forward is an exciting new teaching and learning initiative—pairing students, faculty and external experts, each from differing perspectives—to create innovative and transformative answers to problems and uniquely develop tomorrow’s workforce. For examples of courses and programs, see the UC Forward website.
This initiative differentiates and positions both the university and our students as leaders in transforming the landscape of 21st century education, as well as in creating social and economic value for our local, regional and global communities. The University of Cincinnati is uniquely positioned to do this well and to be THE leader in the field.
Composed of common elements, UC Forward brings students from dissimilar fields together to work with at least two mentors (faculty, students, external experts, or other partners) also from diverse areas of expertise to create new solutions, knowledge, or products. These experiences have included a variety of methods such as innovation studios, field experiences, emerging technologies (i.e., video conferencing, social media) and labs to harbor an environment of collaboration between students. Students gain the capacity to effectively collaborate, self-organize, and create meaningful and sustainable connections with individuals, disciplines, institutions and communities. Through transformative solution-oriented outcomes, UC Forward expands the educational model, to leverage corporate and community partnerships in order to create innovative products, solutions, and new ideas that provide value.
UC Forward represents a fundamental change in the preparation of our students—to be unafraid to meet tomorrow’s challenges—by structuring a variety of interdisciplinary collaborative educational experiences today.
Grant Awarding
Grant applications will be evaluated annually, with awards for the following academic year generally announced in March. Grant awards will be in the range of $2,000-$10,000 per course / per offering for up to two offerings (2013-2014 and 2014-2015). Faculty members are strongly encouraged to request support from multiple funding sources both internally and externally.
Grant Guidelines
Proposals must meet the following guidelines:
- All proposals must include multiple colleges, centers and/or departments (at least of two) at UC and may include collaborating sites.
- Funds should be used for new or enhanced courses to be offered during the 2013-2014 academic year and repeated at least once during the 2014-2015 academic year.
- While funding may be used over both years ($2,000-$10,000 per offering), it is essential the proposal include a plan for sustaining this course after the grant has been exhausted.
- Awardees must be willing to be continued supporters of the UC Forward initiative. This may involve contributing to a post-course seminar where they will serve as mentors for faculty interested in teaching future UC Forward courses, providing access to their students for assessment, testimonials and participation in fund-raising efforts.
- Only one grant will be considered for a course so funds must be shared as appropriate by the participating units.
If several courses are requested to support a program, they may be linked together is a common proposal. However, each course must meet each of the guidelines above and will be considered separately in the review process.
Narrative
All proposals must include the following information:
- Who are the members of your team, and what roles will you play in the course? Include a brief biographical paragraph for each member.
- Describe your Course and how it fits with the UC Forward Experience. Be explicit about how it includes all of the common elements of this pedagogy.
- Indicate if this course represents a new offering or an enhancement of an existing offering. For the latter, be explicit about how this proposal represents an improvement in the course.
- Who are the Participating Colleges and/or External Partners?
- What are the Course Student Learning Objectives?
- How will you assess your Student Learning Objectives? What metrics will you use? List each SLO separately as well as how it will be assessed.
- What are the anticipated enrollments by College and/or program? How does this course fit with program curriculums for students in your college and other units from which you will draw student enrollments?
- Describe the funding needs and rationale for each cost. For each funding area, describe why the funding is critical for the course’s success and show what other internal and external resources have been collected to support these needs. Finally, note the funding gap for each area and if the course can be successfully completed without additional funding.
- Will these funding needs repeat each time course offered? What is your plan for creating sustaining support for this course?
- When will the course be offered?
Each RFF should include letters of support from each participating faculty member’s department head and Dean’s office. Letters of support must indicate how the Department and College will support the course and the faculty’s involvement in that class. Preferences will be given to courses that accomplish the UC Forward goals and have the greatest potential impact relative to student enrollments and long term sustainability. All applications will be judged against the attached assessment template.
Please note that if you plan to offer the course Fall semester 2013, it wil be necessary to bring the course through the e-Curriculum (C-1) course approval process simultaneous with submission.
Timeline
All Proposals are due to Dr. Diane Cline ( Diane.Cline2@uc.edu ) by 5:00 PM January 14, 2013.
During November and December several Q&A sessions will be held in cooperation with CET&L to help faculty prepare their applications.
Stage 1 Review
All proposals will be assessed against the attached assessment template by February 8, 2013.
Stage 2 Interview
The most promising submissions will be invited to an interview to collaboratively work with experienced UC Forward teachers and members of UC’s Innovation Council to refine and further review applications. The interview process will be completed March 11, 2013. All awards will be announced by March 22, 2013.
Questions may be directed to Academic Program Director Diane Cline at diane.cline2@uc.edu or (513)556-3256
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RFF Proposals Review Template
UC Forward RFP Assessment
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Missing
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Needs Improvement
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Adequate
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Exemplary
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Comments
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Extend the reach and quality of UC Forward
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Appropriate number of students will be served
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Multiple disciplines/ points of view will be represented
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Transformative solution-oriented outcomes
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Student learning outcomes and their assessment are appropriate
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Dissemination plan/access
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Re-occurring and Sustainable
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Fits into curriculum
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Cost/benefit ratio is appropriate
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Collaborative methods/ pedagogy
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Partnerships
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Value of outcomes
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Potential impact relative to enrollment
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Overall assessment of the ideas presented in the proposal
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