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Request for Proposals
2000-01 Discipline or Program Initiatives
Developing and Sharing Innovations and Solutions
The cycle for this RFP has been completed. Final Project Reports are now available.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why are you publishing this FAQ sheet?
Five minutes after distributing the Request for Proposals to the campuses (via email), we started receiving questions that we failed to address adequately in the RFP.
- What's the proposal deadline?
December 4, 2000. (That's the day that a subcommittee of the ITL Advisory Board will begin reviewing proposals submitted. Anyone wanting a proposal considered for funding this year needs to get their proposal to ITL no later than December 4, or it won't be included in the distribution to reviewers.)
- What's the funding limit?
We anticipate requests between $5,000 and $20,000, depending on the scope of the project, types of activities and expected outcomes, number of campuses involved, and number of faculty involved. Those submitting requests should look for cost-effective approaches and seek funds from other sources as well, such as partial support from departments, colleges, or other units in the university. Contributions of resources from the campuses are strong indicators of interest in the project and commitment to participate.
- What's a program?
"Program" in this RFP refers to academic, instructional programs with faculty offering and students taking credit-bearing courses on our campuses, such as General Education. We include programs in this RFP because we want to support instructional programs that aren't just one discipline, that cut across disciplines. Writing programs, for example, might include courses in several departments, plus support centers providing supplemental instruction. Also campuses have multi-disciplinary programs like learning communities, area studies, honors programs, and liberal studies and teacher preparation blended curricula.
- Can I request funds for activities next year (AY 2001-02)?
The activities for the initiative, planning to implementation to evaluation, should take place this academic year, meaning no later than June 30, 2001. The funds that ITL has for this program are fiscal year 2000-01 General Funds.
- What about second-year funding?
The ITL Advisory Board will evaluate this program and decide at the April Board meeting whether to issue an RFP for 2001-02 projects, and whether any RFP would invite proposals for second-year funding of projects started this year. It is probably advisable to plan in 2001-02 for "institutionalization" (local and campus-supported follow-on activities at the completion of the initiative this year).
- What kinds of activities can we consider for our initiative?
It is up to you to design a series of activities that you think will engage and support faculty in the discipline or program in developing or adapting instructional innovations and solutions to common problems. For example, you can plan a system-wide or multi-campus colloquium, workshop, or videoconference. You might elect to share "best practices" among participants, to conduct literature reviews on the identified issues, or to bring in recognized experts in the field.
- How many proposals can each discipline send? How many campuses have to be involved?
ITL will review only one proposal from a discipline or multi-disciplinary program . That means that you will need to communicate with colleagues in your discipline or program on other campuses, and coordinate your planning and proposal writing with them. Your initiative can involve every campus or a subset of campuses (for example, those in one region of the state, or, for disciplines like nursing, only those campuses that offer the nursing program). If you need assistance reaching colleagues on other campuses, ask your department chair if there is an email distribution list for the department chairs in the discipline. Then contact the chairs and ask them to put you in touch with faculty who would be interested in planning and implementation of the initiative.
ITL will consider funding proposals only if there is evidence of support and intention to participate from department chairs and/or faculty from all or most of the involved campuses.
- What will be the reporting requirements for funded initiatives?
ITL will require a final report from each funded initiative, showing what was accomplished and how the funds were used. These final reports will be posted on the ITL Website. Additionally, faculty directing or participating in the initiative will be encouraged to write about their innovations and accomplishments and submit that work to Exchanges: The On-Line Journal of Teaching and Learning in the CSU. For information on this new journal, featuring peer-reviewed articles on the scholarship of teaching and learning, see the Call for Papers and Submission Guidelines posted at Exchages Online Journal.
- Any proposal format requirements, or suggestions about writing?
Please limit your narrative to five pages, and don't skimp on margins, spacing, etc. Your readers/reviewers will appreciate your efforts to structure the proposal to make it easy to follow and to read. Keep in mind that they will probably not be from your department or discipline and may need a bit more background information and explanation of specialized terms.
- Can we get feedback on an idea or a preliminary draft of our proposal?
By all means, yes. Call ITL Faculty Director Carol Holder at (562) 951-4735 if you have questions or wish to talk about your ideas. If you have a draft of your proposal and want feedback on that draft, you are encouraged to email it to cholder@calstate.edu, ideally at least a week before the December 4 deadline. If you want local assistance, contact your campus center for faculty or instructional development. You'll find a list of these CSU centers, with names and contact information, on the ITL website (www.calstate.edu/itl/). Your local center director should be able to provide additional feedback, plus assistance with budget planning, connections with colleagues in other departments, and ideas for campus sources of support for your initiative.
The cycle for this RFP has been completed. Final Project Reports are now available.
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