VCU CTE - Small Grants Program

The Center for Teaching Excellence annually requests proposals from the faculty for small grants to support their teaching efforts. The purpose of this program is to supply the faculty with necessary resources to improve their delivery of instruction. Faculty can request up to $3500 in support.

The program is broadly conceived and can include requests for funding to support: (1) travel to attend teaching conferences or workshops, (2) hardware or software purchases, (3) release time in order to revise or create a new course, or (4) research projects that would benefit instruction.

We are particularly looking for innovative/creative faculty initiatives that will improve student learning. Grant applications are welcome from individuals as well as groups of faculty or departments. Grant applications are evaluated by a committee representing the university community. General evaluation criteria include (but are not limited to) the potential for faculty development in the area of teaching, the impact on instruction, and the relationship to departmental, school or university goals in teaching. Given the current strategic plan, VCU2020: Vision for Excellence, and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a special priority will be placed on all applications whose goal is to explore learning-centered teaching practices and/or to increase student engagement, respectively. Finally we encourage all applicants to view some of the completed projects (shown below) to get a general idea as to the scope of the program.

The grant cycle each year is as follows:

October = Call for proposals

November = Proposals are reviewed

December = Award letters are distributed

Dec / Jan = Grant funds are distributed

Spring or Summer = Projects are implemented and assessed

September = Final reports are due