Request for Proposals:
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Service-Learning Grants
Highlights:
- Ten (10) grants are available to support the redesign of an existing course to include a service-learning component, each worth three (3) credits of reassign time. Contingent upon successful completion of course redesign, grant recipients will be eligible to apply for a $1000 stipend for the implementation of the course in the subsequent semester.
- This grant program signifies the University’s recognition of the time and effort involved in meaningful but labor-intensive pedagogies like service-learning. The program will support faculty recipients in addition to serving as a catalyst for the increased use and recognition of service-learning at St. Cloud State University.
Purpose:
Service-learning is a pedagogy that brings theory and practice together, allowing students to use and reinforce acquired knowledge while working for the good of their communities. Service-Learning has been demonstrated to positively impact student learning, as well as to enhance students’ sense of social responsibility and commitment to service while reducing stereotypes and facilitating cultural and racial understanding. Students who participate in service-learning report having stronger relationships with faculty and are more likely to be happy with their college experience; they thus exhibit higher retention rates and a greater likelihood of graduating than students who are never exposed to service-learning. Institutions report that service-learning improves community-university relationships. Additionally, service-learning provides meaningful and much-needed expertise to community agencies.
This grant program, designed to increase the use of service-learning at SCSU, builds on a growing strength indicated in the NSSE data and is responsive to themes in the University’s Strategic Plan regarding academic distinction (Goal A), University Community Relations (Goal B), and Diversity and Social Justice (Goal B).
Program Description:
CETL will award up to ten grants to successful faculty applicants with the potential for a second semester stipend for implementation and assessment after demonstrated successful completion of course re-design. Successful grantees will be awarded a 3-credit reassignment to complete grant-related activities for the period of one semester. Grantees who successfully complete the first semester’s grant activities will be eligible to apply for a second semester stipend of $1000 to implement their course re-design. No more than two reassign time grants and two implementation stipends will be awarded per college.
Grantees will receive the reassign time the semester prior to the semester in which the redesigned course is to be taught. If, for example, a grantee is re-designing a course offered in the fall semester, they would be awarded a grant during the prior spring semester. If they choose to apply for the implementation stipend, it would be awarded (if the application is successful) for the fall semester in which the re-designed course will be taught. While the application for the implementation stipend will be due during the semester in which re-design is occurring, the stipend will be disbursed after the re-designed course has been taught and reflection and assessment materials have been submitted to CETL.
Grant proposals will be reviewed by the CETL Small Grants Committee which will be composed of CETL Director Frankie Condon, Service-Learning Coordinator Christopher Bineham, two members of the CETL Advisory Board, and one community representative.
Application Guidelines:
SCSU defines service-learning as follows:
“Service-learning is a credit bearing, educational experience
in which students participate in organized service activity that
meets identified community needs and reflects on the service activity
in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content,
a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of
civic responsibility.”
Robert Bringle & Julie Hatcher, Office of Service Learning, Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Given this definition of service-learning, successful grant applications will include the following components:
- Project courses will be credit bearing: For the purposes of the university, there is a credit-based incentive attached to service-learning.
- Project courses will be redesigned to include organized service activity: Activities will be planned and organized with community partners so that there is a deliberate relationship connecting the service opportunity with course material.
- Project courses will be redesigned to meet identified community needs: Projects will meet need(s) identified by community partners. Projects will not attempt to create a need for the results of service-learning. Instead, projects will assist organizations with needs they already have. Communication with community partners is essential.
- Project courses will be redesigned to include the opportunity for student reflection: Time will be spent specifically on reflecting and analyzing the volunteer experience in relation to course content and personal experience.
- Project courses will be redesigned such that service-learning connects with and informs course content: Service will not simply be an added component of a course, but integrated into the course as a tool used to reach course goals.
- Project courses will be redesigned to encourage civic responsibility, exploring the social connections to scholarly research and academic exploration.
First Semester Applicants:
Applicants for Service-Learning Re-Design Grants should propose a course re-design with the aim of meaningful inclusion of service-learning. A course re-design for the purposes of these grants would include:
Syllabus revision to include service-learning connected to course content; clearly articulated learning outcomes for students and cooperating agencies, assignment design that includes opportunities and support for student reflection on service-learning experiences; evaluation of student performance at community agencies, in class projects, and in the course as a whole; project and course assessment.
Successful projects will include plans for forming liaisons with community agencies; plans for addressing logistical issues including transportation, contracts, activity log sheets, student project selection, agency contacts, and on-site agency orientations and training for SCSU students.
Successful proposals will include a commitment to disseminate the results of grant-related work through scholarly publications, conference presentations, the display of re-designed course materials on the CETL website and at CETL sponsored events, and leadership of CETL sponsored workshops and panel discussions.
Grantees will be required to attend workshops throughout the grant period led by the Service-Learning Coordinator designed to insure successful completion of course re-design.
At the conclusion of the granting period, each Grantee will demonstrate successful completion of their first semester grant work by submitting re-designed materials to the CETL Small Grants Committee for review; permitting the display of re-designed course materials on the CETL website; participating in or agreeing to participate in an upcoming CETL sponsored workshop or panel discussion. Additionally, each Grantee will write a reflective report on their grant-related activities. This report will accompany the submission of final materials to the CETL Small Grants Committee.
Applicants will be given the opportunity to apply for a stipend for implementation of their course re-design and assessment plan.
Second Semester Applicants:
Applicants for Service-Learning Implementation Stipends will propose an implementation of their grant-sponsored course re-design and assessment plan. Successful applicants for the stipends must agree to disseminate the results of their grant-related work through scholarly publications, conference presentations, and participation in CETL and Volunteer Connection sponsored faculty development workshops and panel discussions.
At the conclusion of the granting period, each Grantee will demonstrate successful completion of their implementation work by submitting a completed assessment report and reflective report on grant-related activities to the CETL Small Grants Committee for review and by participating in CETL and/or Volunteer Connection sponsored workshop or presentation for SCSU faculty.
How to Apply:
Applicants for Service-Learning Redesign Grants must complete the Grant Application Required Materials and Checklist form and submit the materials listed on that form:
- Cover Letter/Statement of Interest in service-learning generally and your course re-design in particular
- Written Application
- Agreement and Signature Page
- Current Course Description for the course you propose to re-design
- Current Course Syllabus for the course you propose to re-design
- Current Course Materials for the course you propose to re-design
Submit applications to the Center for Excellence in Teaching and
Learning, Miller Center 310.
Timeline:
Applications for reassign time grants (for Fall 2006 or
Spring 2007) due: March 15, 2006
Decisions made: April 17, 2006
Departments and Colleges notified: April 17, 2006
Applications for Implementation stipends will be due on November 1, 2006 and April 1, 2007 for Fall and Spring semester Re-Design Grant recipients, respectively.
Please contact Christopher R. Bineham, Service-Learning Coordinator/AmeriCorps member, with any questions, at crbineham@stcloudstate.edu or at 308-3898.
