Office of the Provost

Faculty Development Fund

Approximately $75,000 is available to faculty members to apply for travel assistance to present at or attend conferences. Applications are accepted quarterly. Applications are submitted through a Lotus Notes Workspace application. Ask your department chair how to access the proper forms or contact the Office of the Provost.

Definition

Faculty development is defined as any activity that encourages faculty to acquire knowledge, skills, techniques, and attitudes to provide quality teaching and develop research/scholarly/creative activity and effective service at Fort Hays State University. Development is viewed as a process that is systematic and carefully planned. The plan is to be tailored to the individual and the individual’s contribution to the Department, the College, and the University.

Criteria

1. Proposals must be submitted online and will be initially screened based on the following criteria:

a) consistency with the faculty member’s or administrator’s individual faculty development plan (must be available for full consideration of the proposal);

b) consistency with department, college, university and Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) goals, priorities and mission statements;

c) clear delineation of benefits to the individual and the discipline;

d) clear delineation of benefits to the university.

Each proposal must address at a minimum the preceding four criteria.

2. Upon completion of the initial screening, the committee will identify topics/proposals of special interest which go beyond simple travel requests, including:

a) exploration of ideas, initiatives or activities outside the applicant’s discipline or job area;

b) creative pedagogical or curricular enhancements which improve or develop the applicant’s ability to deliver traditional or virtual learning experiences to students;

3. Final evaluation will focus on ranking the remaining proposals by employing the following criteria in no specific order of importance with the exception of letter a:

a) soundness and internal coherence of the applicant’s written statement;

b) presentation of scholarly work or creative projects;

c) faculty seeking tenure;

d) tenured faculty seeking promotion, renewal or movement into new disciplinary areas;

e) new faculty initializing a development plan;

f) extenuating need linked to travel, scarcity of the development activity and membership in departments/units with small OOE budgets;

g) effort by the applicant to seek external funding

h) monies provided by the department and/or college as an indication of chair/dean support;

i) other extenuating factors not necessarily defined in the proposal.                

Procedures

1. Complete the application using the space provided and include all requested information. Pay special attention to the following:

a) If more than one individual is requesting support for the same activity, clearly indicate how costs will be shared.

b) Accuracy and completeness of application is considered. Be sure to include dates and location.

2. It is the responsibility of the faculty to forward the electronic application form through the approval process prior to the deadline. Applications must be in the Provost’s Office prior to travel.

3. There is a $1,000 limit per person per year. This is cumulative over an academic year.

4. No faculty proposal will be funded unless a current development plan has been approved by the faculty member, chair, and dean. If requested, the development plan must be available to the committee. Current is defined as developed within the last three years.

5. Applications from applicants on leave from the university will not be considered.

Funding

The Faculty Development Committee will review applications twice per semester during the regular academic year. If approved, funding will be provided for a portion of the expenses. The deadline dates are September 20, November 1, February 1, and April 1. If the deadline date falls on a weekend or holiday, the applications are due the first working day after the weekend or holiday.