The Ifill Dean Fund for Faculty Growth
The Ifill Dean Fund for Faculty Growth promotes ongoing exploration and collegial exchange between Ifill faculty around our shared work in teaching, learning, creativity, and inquiry.
Ifill Faculty Growth Funds
The funds support faculty from different departments, fields, disciplines, and perhaps colleges to explore and create new ideas for courses or undertake special projects that will promote pedagogical, creative, and scholarly growth among the Ifill faculty. Faculty Growth funds serve a distinct purpose from individual faculty professional development funds that support conference travel and dissemination of research and creative activity.
Ifill Faculty Growth Funds complement funding from the Sponsored Programs Support and the offerings of the Center for Faculty Excellence. The CFE can also be a great resource for idea generation, proposal development, or partnership on specific projects.
DEADLINE: Applications reviewed on a rolling basis.
Goal: Interdisciplinary Partnership
A goal of the Faculty Growth Fund is to support good ideas and foster cross-departmental partnership in the process. These funds fuel new possibilities between colleagues, and perhaps rekindle old ones, as we equip ourselves, like our students, for lives of passion and purpose.
Applications must come from two or more faculty from different departments (may include other Colleges).
2021-2022 Special Focus: Intersectionality
With the launch of the new Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Cultural Studies, special consideration will be given to proposals from faculty affiliated with CRGCS and its allied programs.
Eligibility and Guidelines
Open to all Ifill or affiliated faculty. Three funding rounds (Aug 15, Nov 1, Apr 1). Notification ordinarily in one month.
Three types of proposals welcome: Course & Curricular Enhancement, Faculty Inquiry, Teaching Conferences & Institutes. Descriptions and submission forms below. Criteria include: likelihood to support faculty growth, improve student teaching and learning, and foster ingenuity in Ifill College. Any requested stipends for faculty time may only be applied in the summer.
Funding Possibilities
Course & Curricular Enhancement
Faculty are invited to apply for funds to support creative, interdisciplinary efforts to improve teaching and student learning, such as developing or enhancing existing courses, piloting new program ideas, and/or related aspects of teaching and curricular development. Expenses might include supplies, equipment (not computers), programming, research assistance, outside or internal teaching/course planning consultation, and other costs associated with creating learning materials, adapting and implementing new teaching concepts, integrating research and teaching, and/or related aspects of faculty development for curricular exploration and enhancement. (Ifill funds cannot be combined with existing course development support initiatives for PLAN.)
Faculty Inquiry
Faculty are invited to apply for funds to support the exploration of particular developments in the arts, media, or humanities related to teaching, scholarship, or artistic methods. This might take the form of reading groups, workshops, attendance at a scholarly meeting in a new area, or other efforts to bring new creative, pedagogical, and scholarly developments in arts, media, and humanities to Ifill College.
Teaching Conferences & Institutes
Faculty members may request support to attend a teaching conference/institute or to enroll in a course/workshop that will enhance interdisciplinary teaching and curricular development. The overall conference, workshop, or institute must be focused primarily on teaching. Expenses may be reimbursed up to $1,200 (per faculty member) for registration and eligible travel expenses.
Projects funded
- Audrey Golden (English) and Kelly Hager (English and Women's & Gender Studies), Wayétu Moore Reading and Q&A. Type: Faculty Inquiry.
- Suzanne Leonard (English) and Saher Selod (Sociology), Student outing to The Niceties at the Huntington Theater. Type: Course Enhancement (ENGL 193 Women in Literature & SOC 300 Race Theory)
- Cathryn Mercier (Children's Literature) and Gary Bailey (Social Work), Through an Activist Lens: We Need Diverse Books. Type: Course Enhancement (ChLit 401 Criticism of Children's Literature & SSW 490 Social Activism, Professional Action, and Strategies)
- Stephen Ortega (History) and Renee Bergland (English), "Security and Insecurity in the Post-9/11 World: A Conversation with Arundhati Roy."
- Kelly Hager (English and Women's & Gender Studies) and Steve Berry (History), Alum Mentors for HUM 370
- Judith Aronson (Communications) and Michael Berger (Chemistry), "From the Critique of Language to the Critique of Images and Media" (lecture by Michael Renner).
- Laura Prieto (History and Women's & Gender Studies) and Kelly Hager (English and Women's & Gender Studies), "Transnational Feminism and Women's Liberation Theater: A Conversation with Kath Kenny."
- Kelly Hager (English and Women's & Gender Studies) and Cathryn Mercier (Children's Literature), "Mixtapes as a Means of Literary Analysis."
- Audrey Golden (English) and Kristina Markos (Communications), “The Living Square: Interdisciplinary Discussion of the Egyptian Revolution with Imam Hassan Selim.” Type: Course and Curriculum Enhancement
- Lydia Fash (English) and Steve Berry (History), “The Boston Pirate Trail.” Type: Course and Curriculum Enhancement
- Cathryn Mercier (Children’s Literature) and Suzanne Leonard (English), “History, Culture, & Audience in Graphic Narratives: A Conversation with Hillary Chute.” Type: Course and Curriculum Enhancement
- Judith Aronson (Communications) and Cathryn Mercier (Children’s Literature), “Typographic Observations” (Presentation by Sarah Chapman). Type: Course and Curriculum Enhancement