Dear Colleague,
For many reasons, now is an opportune time to consider ways in which we can innovate around the delivery of instruction. In particular, advances in technology afford opportunities for new modes of instruction and assessment that can enhance the quality of on-campus instruction and expand the campus’ capacity to meet student demand.
As part of our efforts to seize these opportunities, we are pleased to announce an Instructional Technology and Innovation Micro Grant program to aid faculty in all disciplines in creating new programs or courses, as well as revising their existing courses significantly. This message is a call for proposals under this program.
Proposals should describe how funding in the range of $25,000 to $50,000 would be used to advance our educational mission and improve the undergraduate experience. The campus encourages proposals that are innovative and potentially transformative; particularly encouraged are ideas that can be tested and potentially replicated across the campus.
For proposals pertaining to individual courses, proposers are encouraged to indicate how they would leverage technology (especially online technology) to increase student engagement. Proposals that promote accessible, inclusive, and resilient instruction and include discovery experiences are particularly welcome, as are proposals that hold the promise to improve students’ access to and success in gateway and other high-demand courses. Proposals might envision novel, expanded, or improved uses of remote instruction, course capture, Gradescope and other artificial intelligence, recorded lectures for flipped classrooms, or peer-to-peer tutoring or grading. We also welcome proposals for ways to increase opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research, to perform, or otherwise engage in discovery and creation.
A question-and-answer session for those interested in submitting proposals will be held on Friday, February 10 at 1:30 p.m. (register now). Proposers are also encouraged to explore the resources available at the Center for Teaching & Learning and, more broadly, with Research, Teaching, and Learning, to consult the program webpage, and to write to vpue@berkeley.edu if they have additional questions.
The campus has a limited amount of non-state funding that was provided for this purpose. The funding is open to Senate faculty and the intention for this call is to fund between 10 and 15 proposals in the $25,000 to $50,000 range. Proposals should include a budget justification and a discussion of impact. If justified and if consistent with University rules on summer salary, funds can be used for summer salary.
Proposals should be submitted by Monday, March 13 at 6 p.m. using the online form. Funding decisions will be announced in late March. To help disseminate the results of the funded projects, grant recipients are expected to discuss their work at a Council of College Deans meeting in 2023, as well as work with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to make a written summary of their work available to be posted on the CTL website.
We thank you for your engagement and interest in the instructional mission of the campus and for your support of our students.
Fiat Lux,
Benjamin E. Hermalin
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Oliver M. O’Reilly
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
This message was sent to all Academic Senate faculty.