Travel Grants
The Center for Educational Excellence supports the university in all phases of pedagogical development. The Center is committed to assisting in promoting the institution's core values of academic excellence, knowledge, community, ethical conduct, and compassionate service. The fundamental purpose of the CEE Travel Grant program is to expose faculty to key national issues in teaching and learning in higher education and encourage development on CEE's programming themes of Pedagogical Development, Diversity, Assessment, Instructional Technology, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. CEE will support travel for 4 faculty to attend pertinent conferences held between July 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013. Grant amounts are up to $1,200.00 each. Members of the Center for Educational Excellence Advisory Committee will evaluate proposals on the strength of their connection to the CEE themes of Pedagogical Development, Diversity, Assessment, Instructional Technolog, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Proposals should clearly indicate how topics to be explored at the conference support the teaching mission of the university. They should also provide a description how they might design a CEE presentation to inform other USD faculty upon their return from the conference.
Selection Criteria
The primary criterion of judgment will be the excellence of the proposal and the thoughtfulness given to its applicability to CEE program themes of pedagogical development, diversity, assessment instructional technology, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Three additional key criteria are: 1) the general applicability of the topic for multiple disciplines; 2) the novelty of the pedagogy or topic; and 3) the vision for designing a CEE presentation based on the conference information. Applicants can only be funded once per fiscal year and preference will be given to first time applications. To view the rubric used to assess proposals, click here. To see a list of previous grantees, please click here.
Acceptable Activities for Funding
Attending a conference/seminar. Some examples of the types of conferences are:
- The Teaching Professor Conference
- Teaching Professor Workshops
- AAC&U Working Conferences on Academic Renewal
- Professional and Organizational Development in Higher Education Network Joint Conference with HBCU Faculty Development Network
- AAC&U Annual Conference
- Annual Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE)
- Other AAC&U Meetings and Institutes
- Teaching and Learning Conferences
Unacceptable Activities for Funding
1. International Travel
2. Cost-of-living expenses during a sabbatical
3. Funding to support seminars/conferences normally funded by faculty department including research conferences and presentations of your scholarly work not related to pedagogical development, diversity, assessment, instructional technology, or the scholarship of teaching and learning
4. Salary request for faculty or students
5. Funding for spouses or family members
6. Funds for the sole purpose of presenting one's research
Eligibility
All tenure-track and tenured USD faculty are eligible to apply. Also eligible are adjunct faculty who have taught consistently each semester at USD for at least 3 years and have a commitment to teach in Spring, 2014. Applicants can only be funded once per fiscal year.
Amounts of Funding
The Committee could fund up to a maximum of $1,200 per person for each proposal. In the event there are funds remaining, the committee will consider additional requests.
Application Process
Applicants must use the official application form and answer all questions completely, including a description of the anticipated expenses and funding from other sources. Applications are due Friday, March 15, 2013 by 5 p.m.
Follow-up
Upon submission of receipts, recipients of the grant will be asked to provide a brief written summary of their trip, including how the experience will be incorporated into their curriculum. Recipients will be expected to meet with CEE directors to design a CEE presentation to share their experience and knowledge gained.
Application and Guidelines
Please access the application and guidelines and submit electronically to Dr. Sandra Sgoutas-Emch, Director, Center for Educational Excellence.
Contact Information
Please contact Dr. Sandra Sgoutas-Emch for additional information.
