Faculty Communities for Inclusive Teaching

This initiative has successfully funded 5 years of projects and will not be offered in the current academic year.

Overview

The Faculty Communities for Inclusive Teaching initiative, open to all instructional faculty and co-sponsored by the Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion and Academic Affairs, is designed to build faculty capacity for supporting an inclusive campus climate through their teaching in classrooms, clinics, studios, or labs. Funds of up to $1,000 will be awarded for projects that assemble small groups of faculty to discuss and learn together about inclusive teaching practices. Funds can support activities scheduled any time during the Winter Term. Click on this link for a list of previously-funded projects.

Project leads will gather twice: once to discuss their plans at a kick-off lunch in January, and once again the following fall to share major outcomes and dissemination plans. CRLT will also interview each of the project leads during the summer term to collect key insights, resources, and best practices from the groups in order to inform faculty development efforts around inclusive teaching moving forward.

CRLT consultants are available to confer about proposals and discuss ways we might support the faculty groups.

Eligibility

Tenured and tenure-track faculty, clinical instructional faculty, and lecturers who have continuing appointments on the Ann Arbor campus.

Selection Criteria

Funds will be awarded to proposals that most clearly demonstrate:

Clear focus on campus climate and inclusive teaching
Substantive rationale for how the proposed activities will support inclusive teaching
Likelihood of success in recruiting and retaining faculty participants
Potential for impact on campus beyond the group’s participants
Clear connection between the budget and the proposed project

Proposal Guidelines and Submission

Please limit applications to 800 words. Authentication is required to access the form. When prompted, please login with your U-M uniqname and password.

Applications should address all five of the following areas:

1. Description of size and composition of faculty group and how participants will be recruited:

Will the group be a subset of faculty within a department, or a multi-disciplinary community? Will the group be comprised of faculty who share certain social identities, teaching foci, or institutional positions (e.g., recently-tenured faculty)?
How will members be recruited and motivated to participate?

2. Specific plans for faculty gatherings and/or exchange. For instance, communities might:

Discuss case studies relevant to inclusive teaching challenges and strategies
Exchange and discuss syllabi for courses on multicultural content
Observe and discuss one another’s classes
Construct and discuss a bibliography of readings about inclusive teaching practices
Invite others (e.g., CRLT consultants, IGR staff, a faculty guest from another institution or department) to share successful inclusive teaching strategies
Read and discuss a book relevant to campus diversity or inclusive teaching (e.g., Whistling Vivaldi or Advancing Social Justice).

3. Budget justification. Use of funds might include, but would certainly not be limited to:

Purchase of books for a faculty reading group
Stipends for guest speakers
Meals for faculty gatherings
Tickets for a performance or film that would inform faculty conversations about inclusive teaching
Transportation to a faculty ‘field trip’ at an area cultural institution

4. Discussion of potential outcomes or impacts of your project. What are you hoping to achieve with your project? Examples of outcomes might be:

Increase participants' understanding of best practices or key research in a particular area of inclusive teaching
Raise awareness among faculty colleagues of student climate concerns or learning needs
Create resources for participants or other instructors to use in their teaching
Prompt participants to change their teaching practice
Create a plan for curricular revision

5. Plans for dissemination. The community should produce an outcome that can share insights beyond the participants. Examples might include:

Offering a workshop where participants model and practice inclusive teaching strategies
Composing a blog post for the CRLT website that shares key insights and strategies
Preparing an essay for publication about the process or insights of the group
Reporting at a series of department faculty meetings

Please limit applications to 800 words. Submit your application here. Authentication is required to access the application form. When prompted, please login with your U-M uniqname and password.