University of Virginia
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

The Office of Academic Outreach and the Mellon Race, Place, and Equity Program invite faculty members engaged in place-based and community-engaged work to apply for a $4,000 Course Development Grant. The grant will support development and first delivery of a course that will feature a significant amount of engagement between the faculty member, students, and a community-based partner (or partners).

Faculty will be encouraged to join a vibrant Community Engaged/Service Learning community, with monthly gatherings and trainings available. If faculty are new to community-engaged teaching, they will be asked to attend a one-day faculty training session led by the Center for Teaching Excellence's CE/SL Faculty Fellow. The workshop will provide opportunities for faculty to learn about best practices for building and sustaining mutually beneficial relationships with outside partners.

Examples of sustainability-related courses sponsored by the Mellon grant program include:
--Lisa Goff, “Reparative History: Site, Archive, Database/Mapping Black Landscapes"
--Frank Dukes, “Collaborative Planning for Sustainability: Equitable Collaboration"
--Cale Jaffe, “Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic”
--Spencer Phillips, “Hanoi’s Hong River: Development, Climate, and Rights to the City”
--Eric Ramirez-Weaver, “Performing Acts of Justice and Equity”

$4,000 Course Development Grants will support development and first delivery of a course. Faculty can reapply two further times to support that same course within five years of the first offering; the second and third iterations of the course will be awarded $2,000 each.

The Mellon Race, Place, and Equity Program also offers grants to support faculty wishing to augment an already existing community-engaged course. Faculty may apply for an initial $2,000 award as well as support for two additional iterations of the course at the same funding level.