Cornell University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

Opportunities for Faculty to develop new sustainability-focused courses is supported by The Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. The center offers several incentive programs to support the mission of community-engaged learning to "combine diverse expertise and skills, and develop teams of faculty, staff, students and community members to address global issues and help build a more sustainable, just and collaborative future." Community-Engaged Learning Courses (CELC) are intended for students to collaborate with communities, in Ithaca and around the globe, to design, implement and evaluate real solutions to environmental, agricultural, and educational problems that are affecting a specific community. For instance, in the course CEE 2550: AguaClara Sustainable Water Supply Project teams design, build, and operate prototypes for sustainable, municipal-scale water treatment plants in resource-poor communities. Students also develop measurement and evaluation protocols to measure process performance and develop educational materials for technology transfer to the communities https://courses.cornell.edu/preview_course.php?catoid=45&coid=805273&print. All CELC courses are similar to CEE 2550 in the sense that they all address a specific community interest, problem or public concern, include working with and learning from a community partner, and integrate community-engaged experiences with educational content https://einhorn.cornell.edu/about/what-is-community-engaged-learning/.

Currently, there are nine Grants, Awards, and Capacity-building opportunities to incentivize faculty and staff to advance community-engaged learning opportunities for Cornell students. The three incentive programs that champion this mission are the Engaged Curriculum Grants, the Faculty Institute on Community Engaged Learning and Teaching, and the Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program.

The Engaged Curriculum Grants is funding teams that are integrating community-engaged learning into curriculum exploration, development and improvement. The Grants support the development of new course series and curricula designed to benefit undergraduate students and community partners, modifications to existing course series to add, deepen or better integrate community-engaged learning and teaching in any field of study, as well as teams of Cornell faculty and their community partners experimenting with how to embed in their courses and curricula the public purpose of the discipline or field. Within the Grants, there are Planning Grants, Development Grants, and Advancement Grants. After receiving funding, all team members must attend a community-engaged learning summer institute and a professional development program.
More information about the Engaged Curriculum Grants can be found at https://einhorn.cornell.edu/opportunity/engaged-curriculum-grants/

The Faculty Institute on Community Engaged Learning and Teaching is a two-day institute where faculty develop or reshape a community-engaged course. The institute is aimed at faculty who would like to make community-engaged service-learning a major focus of their teaching and are interested in gaining insights on how to accomplish this. Participants are introduced to: the main elements of community-engaged courses, foundational readings, tools, and discussions, as well as a network of support with colleagues from across campus. During the two days, faculty members work to create or reshape an existing syllabus so that it integrates engagement or work to develop curriculum framework for a new course.
More information can be found at https://einhorn.cornell.edu/opportunity/faculty-institute-on-community-engaged-learning-and-teaching-celt/

Within the Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program, yearlong faculty cohorts develop community-engaged expertise, programs, projects and networks. This program offers two fellowships: Faculty Fellows in Engaged Learning and Faculty Fellows in Engaged Scholarship. The yearlong fellowships are open to all faculty and provide $2,000 in funding to accepted fellows. The fellows spend a year building community partnerships and working to transform their teaching methods to incorporate the values, skills and knowledge of community engagement. Categories of projects include Energy, Environment & Sustainability; Food & Agriculture; Access, Equity & Justice; and Health, Nutrition & Medicine. More information can be found at https://einhorn.cornell.edu/opportunity/engaged-faculty-fellowship-program/

The 2020 Virtual Showcase of Engaged Faculty Fellow projects can be seen at https://blogs.cornell.edu/engagedfacultyfellowsshowcase/

Additional incentive programs/funding opportunities include:
Community Engagement Staff Institute (CAPACITY-BUILDING) – A half-day institute where Cornell staff gain new skills and a new network of colleagues committed to community engagement
Engaged Opportunity Grants (GRANT) – Providing seed support for a wide range of community-engaged learning projects
Community Engagement Staff Institute (CAPACITY-BUILDING) – A half-day institute where Cornell staff gain new skills and a new network of colleagues committed to community engagement

https://oei.cornell.edu/grants/faculty-staff-funding/

Recipients of the Engaged Curriculum Grants are eligible for a maximum fund of $80,000. Planning Grants provide funding up to $10,000 to explore new partnerships and/or new curricula. Development Grants support faculty and staff working to create new courses or develop existing curricula; over a two year period, team members can receive up to $60,000. Finally, Advancement Grants serve to provide up to $10,000 in funding for improving, assessing, expanding, and researching the impact of existing curricula. https://einhorn.cornell.edu/opportunity/engaged-curriculum-grants/