University of Minnesota, Morris
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

We provide grant funds for faculty to develop new sustainability-related courses via the Educational Development Program (EDP). Our goal is to grow the number of sustainability-related courses we offer. Over the past three years we have increased the number of courses and creative work in this area.

Grant awards may range up to $3,000 per proposal. It is expected that salary will be the dominant budget item in EDP proposals. Funding via the Sustainability Leadership Fellows for the Future program helped to fund curricular development. https://www4.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/sustainable-academics https://www4.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/sustainability-leaders-future

Information sent by UMM Academic Dean: "The UMM Educational Development Program (EDP) is designed to stimulate and support curricular development on the Morris campus by allocating grants for specific projects. The program, together with curricular development dollars administered through the International Program Committee, is the annual opportunity to receive financial support for your summer curriculum development work. This year, I am pleased to announce that we will be able to supplement EDP funding with grant funding from the Sustainability Leaders of the Future (SLF) Program and from the Native American Student Success (NASS) Project." This year, the Curriculum Committee has identified the following equally important funding priorities: 1) Courses that enhance our general education course offerings or generate artifacts to assists assessment of our Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), particularly: --The Human Diversity (HDiv) general education requirement --Written communication SLO --Critical thinking and problem solving SLO --Quantitative literacy SLO 2) Discipline-specific curriculum improvement: --Program revision or introductory level courses taught by multiple faculty in programs that are in need of significant renewal (note funding may be split among teams of 2-3 people). --Courses in majors with new faculty --Courses that incorporate instruction in discipline-specific writing 3) New or revised courses that explicitly include a sustainability and/or leadership component. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to: --Management of non-profits --Cross cultural communication --Social Entrepreneurship --Systems thinking --Environmental education --The relationship between culture and sustainability --Courses that include a place-based component 4) Proposals that infuse significant Native American content into existing courses or programs. Well developed proposals that address a significant need within the curriculum or that will benefit large numbers of students will also be considered. Grant awards may range up to $3,000 per proposal. This year, it is expected that many awards will be for revision of courses around the priority area. These revisions, unless evidently substantial, will be funded at $1500 per course. It is expected that salary will be the dominant budget item in EDP proposals. EDP grants are available to UMM faculty and P&A staff. In the past, the Curriculum Committee has made multiple-applicant awards. Applications are available at: http://www.morris.umn.edu/services/acad_affairs/aavarious.html#edp