Teaching Support Grant Opportunities

Various units across the University of Delaware offer grant funding opportunities for instructors to develop their teaching, improve existing courses, develop new courses, evaluate instruction, and assess curricular needs. In such cases special calls are opened in response to strategic priorities.

Instructors are encouraged to read the specific calls below to determine which opportunity best fits their project.

If you are not sure which funding opportunity is right for you and your project, or if you would like additional guidance, please request a consultation.

We welcome the opportunity to hear your ideas!

Open Calls

Faculty Staff Career Innovation Grant

Sponsoring Unit: UD Career Center

Important Dates: Rolling Application Process

The University of Delaware Career Center Faculty & Staff Career Innovation Grant (FSCIG) provides funding for UD faculty and staff to create professional and career development activities for their students. Funding is provided to offset costs associated with infusing career-related materials and/or experiences into existing or new class curricula and/or departmental, program school, Division of Student Life and Department of Athletics-based initiatives.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://www.udel.edu/students/career-center/faculty/

Foundational Course Initative

Sponsoring Unit: The Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning

Important Dates: Rolling Application Process. Decisions for next academic year are communicated each April.

In support of the University of Delaware’s goal to transform Blue Hen students’ first-year experience, CTAL partners with UD faculty to better support and engage our undergraduates. Our shared goal is to reimagine foundational courses that utilize the most effective strategies for teaching and actively engaging students in the learning process. In addition, these introductory courses are designed to teach UD students to be effective college-level learners within and beyond any course’s discipline.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://ctal.udel.edu/programs/foundational-course-transformation-initiative/

IHRC AAP Faculty Fast-Track Grant

Sponsoring Unit: Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center

Important Dates: Application Deadline late October. Notification mid-November

Fast-Track Grants for AAP faculty for courses offered Spring 2024 semester. Applications considered from all disciplinary perspectives for courses designed to create pathways for students and faculty to engage the Humanities in key questions, topics, or projects, and/or in partnership with others (faculty, guests, organizations).

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://www.ihrc.udel.edu

IHRC Faculty Grant Advancing Curricular Innovation and Public Humanities

Sponsoring Unit: Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center

Important Dates: Application Deadline early January. Notification early February

Proposals for interdisciplinary grants advancing curricular innovation and public humanities outreach. Grants may be used by faculty to re-imagine extant courses or develop new curricular offerings. Supported grants must constructively engage the Humanities and leverage interdisciplinarity. Detailed grant information posted on IHRC website by November 2023.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://www.ihrc.udel.edu

Open and Affordable Teaching Materials

Sponsoring Unit: Library, Museums and Press

Important Dates: Application Deadline late April. Notification early June

By understanding how to find, evaluate and interpret information—including multimedia, physical and digital materials, and rare objects—students gain confidence accessing and creating knowledge with a critical mindset. We support teaching and learning by collaborating with faculty to craft hands-on lessons and by developing semester-long partnerships that are connected to course goals. To supplement these collaborations, we design online materials such as guides, tutorials and modules. Our expertise and unique collections enhance student explorations of course content. We are also available to provide general orientations, tours, workshops and individual consultations.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: library.udel.edu 

Paul J. Rickards, Jr. Teaching Innovation Grant

Sponsoring Unit: UDIT Academic Technology Services

Important Dates: Application Deadline May 1. Notification early June

The Paul J. Rickards, Jr. Teaching Innovation Grant program is designed to support instructors with developing and implementing novel teaching strategies. Experimentation, collaboration and the exploration of new approaches to teaching are encouraged. Along with funding, successful applicants will receive technical support and project management assistance from UDIT Academic Technology Services.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://ats.udel.edu/grant/

Paul R. Jones Initiative Grants

Sponsoring Unit: The Paul R. Jones Initiative

Important Dates: Application Deadline early January. Notification early February.

Paul R. Jones Initiative (PRJI) grants provide funding for programming, including visiting artists and scholars, that centers Black arts practices and engagement. Grant requests must align with the PRJI mission, be teaching and learner-centered, and public-facing.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://www.ihrc.udel.edu

Professional Learning Communities

Sponsoring Unit: The Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning

Important Dates: Application Deadline Varies

CTAL offers a variety of Professional Learning Communities to meet the needs of instructors at every stage of their teaching career. From new faculty entering the teaching ranks to experienced professors fine-tuning their craft, all instructors will find participation in a CTAL PLC to be an opportunity for exploration and discovery in a collegial setting. PLC topics vary each year and are informed by grassroots interest and/or pan-university priorities.

Website to learn more about this funding opportunity: https://ctal.udel.edu/programs/

Social Justice Course Development Grants

Sponsoring Unit: Diversity & Inclusion Committee of the Faculty Senate and the UD Anti-Racism Initiative

Important Dates: Application Deadline Each Spring

The Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Faculty Senate, with the sponsorship of UDARI, is offering grants of up to $3000 to support the development of new social justice courses, proposed for Fall 2024. These grants aim to foster a deeper understanding of social justice issues, engaging students in the critical exploration of diverse perspectives and promoting the University’s commitment to multicultural education. A portion of the grant is intended to fund guest speakers, enrichment of the learning environment (e.g. course materials), while the remaining funds will be awarded to the recipient.

Please contact Meghan McInnis-Domínguez if you would like additional information. Applications are being accepted using this google form.

Past Calls

Innovations for a Post-COVID High-Enrollment Course

This grant is currently closed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the broad transition from in-person to remote instruction was unprecedented in the history of higher education. Many instructors were confronted with an overwhelming amount of information and technology tools with a short amount of time to process and understand which of these tools, strategies, or pedagogical approaches might work best in their respective courses. Despite this challenge, numerous innovations arose from this pivot that may be useful in future course deliveries. Looking ahead to the return to campus and in-person/hybridized instruction, this professional learning community will reflect on this period of online teaching and learning and explore the various innovations that arose from individual instructor experiences. This group will reflect on course design and implementation practices that worked well, did not work well, and which strategies may become ongoing components of course structures moving forward in a post-COVID world.    

Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant

This grant is currently closed. In partnership with the UD Library, Museums and Press, funding is available to support up to two proposals that seek to address the rising cost of course materials through use of open textbooks and open educational resources. Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials produced by educators that are licensed to be shared freely and at no cost to others. OER may include question banks, syllabi, games, simulations, tutorials, lesson plans, full textbooks and even full courses.

Successful proposals have emphasized the link between effective teaching practices and the use of open resources. 

Instructional Improvement Grants

This grant is currently closed. Instructional Improvement Grants (IIG) provided funds (up to $5,000) for one-time, small-scale projects to improve existing courses, develop new courses, evaluate instruction, and assess curricular needs. The grant was intended to support larger innovative projects that  directly and significantly affected teaching and learning, such as developing materials for new and existing courses and developing new modes of instruction.

Information on previous calls and grant winners is available here.

Reengineering Large Introductory Courses Grants

This grant is currently closed. The purpose of the Reengineering Large Introductory Courses (ReLIC) grant program was to enhance learning, persistence, and graduation rates of UD students by addressing the needs of faculty teaching large (generally more than 60 students per section) introductory courses

Information on previous calls and grant winners is available here.