UNL launches Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has launched an initiative that university officials said is designed to continue the institution's commitment to teaching excellence and student learning.

The Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence will invest more than $500,000 in grants to outstanding faculty and staff, and in development of state-of-the-art facilities and innovative programming.

"This again reaffirms this university's commitment to undergraduate education; that strong teaching is a valued and critical component of our ongoing effort to provide the best possible experiences for students," said Chancellor Harvey Perlman, who announced plans for the initiative in his Sept. 10 State of the University address.

As Perlman noted in the address, $427,000 for the initiative comes from the University of Nebraska Foundation Grants Committee. The balance comes from the foundation's year-end effort to secure expendable funds for the Chancellor's Excellence Fund. Perlman released the funds to the offices of Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Rita Kean, dean of undergraduate studies.

"The Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence will help faculty and staff create the best undergraduate experience for our students through engaged teaching that focuses on learning," Couture said. "I am delighted that the chancellor has provided funding for a wide range of projects, including ones that bring new technologies into the classroom, involve whole departments and programs, assist individual instructors, and enhance student advising. This is a great opportunity for our faculty and staff."

Under the initiative, the university invites proposals from full-time faculty and staff for projects related to the implementation of the Transition to University Task Force report, "Everyone a Learner, Everyone a Teacher," or other activities related to teaching excellence and enhanced undergraduate student learning. The task force was created in May 2003 to review and assess the effectiveness of first-year-undergraduate orientation programs and courses. David Wilson coordinates the initiative through a part-time appointment in the Office of Academic Affairs as special assistant for faculty instructional development. He is professor of teaching, learning and teacher education in the College of Education and Human Sciences.

The initiative provides funding in six different areas:

* Program Innovation Grants of up to $25,000 each to encourage curricular change that focuses on continuing academic program improvement.

* Teaching and Learning Technology Grants of from $5,000 to $25,000 each to encourage partnerships to improve teaching using technologies in innovative ways.

* Learner-Centered Classroom Development Grants totaling $250,000 to redevelop classrooms in ways that incorporate new learning technologies and created spaces that enhance interaction between students and teachers.

* Advising for Life Grants of from $5,000 to $25,000 each to colleges to reform advising to clarify and simplify program requirements, increase faculty-student contact and emphasize advising beyond academics.

* One Campus, Many Views Grants of from $5,000 to $25,000 each to develop curricular and co-curricular programs that engage faculty, staff and students on issues that affect the welfare of the campus, local, national and global communities.

* Teaching Fellows Grants designed to recognize faculty who pursue substantive projects involving original scholarly or creative effort aimed at the improvement of teaching and learning, and to engage faculty in public discussion of such work. The grants include a $2,000 stipend and a $3,000 professional development fund.

Grant proposals must be submitted by Jan. 14 via e-mail to Wilson at dwilson2@unl.edu. Proposals should be in Microsoft Word, PDF or HTML format.

Each proposal must include the standard cover sheet, available on the Academic Affairs Web site (www.unl.edu/svcaa/teaching@unl); a two-page proposal that includes a description of the project and its relationship to the goals articulated for the desired grant; an assessment plan for determining impact on undergraduate student learning, and a project timeline; and a budget. Specific inquiries should be directed to Wilson by e-mail or telephone (472-3386).

Proposals will be reviewed by an advisory committee with members from the Teaching Council, the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, the Instructional Technology Advisory Committee, the Classroom Advisory Committee, Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, the Academic Planning Committee, the Academic Senate, and the Undergraduate Studies and Student Affairs staff, and chaired by Wilson. Final selections will be made by the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs during the spring semester.

CONTACT: Barbara Couture, Sr. Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, (402) 472-3751