Faculty News and Resources

IMPORTANT UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION NEWS

  • The Starfish Early Progress Report period runs from Monday, January 27, to Wednesday, February 5. Please take time to log into Starfish and update advisers on any students showing early struggles—not attending, failing to turn in assignments, etc. Your early reporting can help us identify, support, and refer students quickly! REMEMBER—you can also send kudos and flags to advisers and students at any time of the semester. An update after major exams or assignments is VERY HELPFUL.
  • HHD Summer Research Grants: apply by February 7, 2020. The College of Health and Human Development will be offering funds for undergraduates to complete research under the direction of a faculty mentor for summer 2020. Funds may be used for student expenses and project costs. Students must be enrolled in a College of HHD major or be a premajor HHD student.
  • Research with Undergraduates: This is a great time for HHD Faculty who want to connect with undergraduates for research can post research opportunities online. If you have already created a research opportunities account, you can post those opportunities here: https://undergradresearch.psu.edu/resources/opportunities. If you have not yet created a research opportunities account, apply for an account here:  https://undergradresearch.psu.edu/form/apply-account. For more info and resources on guiding undergraduate research: https://undergradresearch.psu.edu/resources/faculty
  • Register NOW! The Penn State TLT Symposium 2020 is Saturday, March 21: The annual event is free and open to the entire Penn State community. Bookmark the Symposium website to keep up with up-to-date information. Every HHD department should have faculty attending and bringing back great ideas.
  • Penn State’s Center for Immersive Experiences is offering grants to faculty for ideas on using immersive experiences in teaching and learning: https://immersive.psu.edu/grants/
  • DEADLINE: Global Programs Faculty Travel Grants: Global Programs maintains a fund to support faculty travel related to developing global awareness, global literacy and global competency among our undergraduate population. The Faculty Travel Grant (up to a maximum of $3,000 per project) supports faculty members traveling abroad for a short-term stay (1-4 weeks). Deadline for next round is February 20 by 5:00 P.M. (EST) for travel to take place on or after Dec. 1 of that year. More info and applications: https://global.psu.edu/article/global-programs-faculty-travel-grants·
  • NIDDK Education Program Grants (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Next due date is January 2021.The over-arching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:
    • Courses for Skills Development: For example, advanced courses in a specific discipline or research area, clinical procedures for research, or specialized research techniques. NIDDK supports skill development for research on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.
    • Research Experiences: For example, for undergraduate students: to provide hands-on exposure to research, to reinforce their intent to graduate with a science degree, and/or to prepare them for graduate school admissions and/or careers in research; for graduate and medical, dental, nursing and other health professional students: to provide research experiences and related training not available through formal NIH training mechanisms; for postdoctorates, medical residents and faculty: to extend their skills, experiences, and knowledge base.  These experiences are expected to be relevant for research within the mission of NIDDK that includes diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.
  • Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellent February Workshops: http://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/events?date=February
  • Pre-proposal consultation for Schreyer Institute Transformation and Innovation Grants due no later than March 2: http://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/teachingprojectgrants
  • Canvas Day (March 20) is a great way to learn new ways to use Canvas to improve teaching and learning. Before March 20 there are pre-conference workshops ( https://canvas.psu.edu/category/canvas-day/). There’s also an opportunity to share One Cool Thing that you do with Canvas, helping to share your best ideas (https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4O8N9zvbOuLBWIZ). Finally you can register for Canvas Day here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-canvas-day-tickets-78224029177)
  • The Office for General Education offers Microgrants for General Education Courses. Do you have an innovative idea to engage students in your General Education course? Share your idea. Request must be for a senate approved General Education course and the maximum request is $500 per class. Apply Here! Requests will be reviewed on a rolling basis and responses can be expected approximately 2 weeks after submission.
  • Call for Proposals: The Reflection Project: Looking at Who WE ARE Development of Arts Inclusive General Education Inter-Domain Courses: This call for proposals is for faculty at University Park to provide support for general education interdomain course construction for up to four sustainable courses that include engagement with Center for the Performing Arts at Penn Stateartists and performances, resulting in inter-domain course content within the arts, humanities, or other related academic disciplines. More info: https://cpa.psu.edu/reflection-project-call
  • Are you a faculty member teaching career development or internship courses? SAVE THE DATE! The 2020 Career Development Professionals Conference will be held on May 11-12, 2020 at University Park.
  • Upcoming Conferences:
  • As we start the new semester, don’t forget that PSU has updated their policy regarding weather delays. The two key points for faculty are:
      • Faculty who teach classes that run across multiple periods may begin their class at the end of the announced delaytime and continue through the end of the scheduled period (e.g., if a 2 hour delay until 10 a.m. is announced, a class that normally runs from 9 a.m. to noon could hold class from 10 a.m. to noon). Faculty need to inform their students of their decision in advance. It can be added proactively to the class syllabus and communicated to the students via Canvas.
      • Students should be informed of the plan for making up any work owing to delays or closures.  However, attendance at evening or other make-ups outside of scheduled class time cannot be made mandatory nor can students be held responsible for the materials covered in such sessions. Alternative methods, such as online assignments and access to digital course materials or recorded lectures, should be considered.
    • Our Outreach Instruction Design team has set up a University Policies Google Doc so that anyone with the link can view it. The University Policies has been designed for World Campus offerings through the College, but could also be utilized for residential courses. The link to the current Google Doc should be open and available for anyone in the College to utilize and link to in Canvas as a part of their course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13s0QGVUtPRtHEtOD0DhzQvEhjJTyDmMHqTmRswh8Vr0/edit?usp=sharing
        • Save the Date for Outreach’s Lunchtime Learning sessions to learn more about improving teaching and learning in HHD: February 24, March 24, and April 24. Details forthcoming!

Five Things on Undergraduate Education I’m Reading

What’s the most educated body in the solar system? The sun—it’s got 27 million degrees.

Have a reading suggestion?  Let me know

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES AND SUPPORT

  • Spring Career Days 2020 February 4-5  February 4: Non-Technical Full-Time, Internship and Co-op February 5: Technical Full-Time, Internship and Co-op 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Bryce Jordan Center http://careerfairs.psu.edu/Spring/student/Default.shtml
  • The 2020 Summer Founders program provides selected Penn State entrepreneurial teams (founders) $15,000 to work full time on their startup, social good or nonprofit idea. Working over the summer, the program provides workspace and a plethora of resources and support.  The Summer Founders Program, a signature program of Invent Penn State, is open to any Penn State undergraduate or graduate student with an entrepreneurial endeavor. Solo founders are eligible, but teams of two or three people are preferred. To be eligible, participating teams must include at least one member that is a Penn State or World Campus student in good standing who is working on a U.S.-based business. Teams are expected to work full time on their startup, social good or nonprofit idea, attend weekly dinners, and meet regularly with advisers throughout the duration of the program. 2020 Summer Founders application deadline: Feb 16. Apply online.
  • HHD Summer Research Grants: apply by February 7, 2020. The College of Health and Human Development will be offering funds for undergraduates to complete research under the direction of a faculty mentor for summer 2020. Funds may be used for student expenses and project costs. Students must be enrolled in a College of HHD major or be a premajor HHD student.
  • The Presidential Leadership Academy is for those who want to think critically about important issues. Those who want to make the tough decisions. Those who want to make a difference in the world and lead by example. Those like you — Penn Staters who want to become the leaders of tomorrow. https://academy.psu.edu/prospective/application/Deadline: February 14, 2020
  • The Undergraduate Research at the Capitol—Pennsylvania Poster Conferencewill take place in the State Capitol Building, Harrisburg on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. This conference provides undergraduate students from across the state opportunity to showcase their research projects to an audience of Pennsylvania legislators.  In addition to the scholarly presentations and discussions, students interact with members of state government and when possible, are invited to visit either the Senate or House Chamber as part of the day’s events. Penn State is limited to 8 posters total and nominations from all campuses are welcome. All fields of research are encouraged. Faculty are invited to nominate students for participation.  Students should not contact the event organizers directly.  The Office of Undergraduate Education organizes the selection, submission, and registration of all presentations from Penn State.  In order to be considered for this event, we must receive the following information from faculty nominators: 1) the name and email of the undergraduate student(s), 2) the title of the poster, and 3) a brief abstract.  If the nominating faculty member is not the project advisor, please provide that name and email as well.  All nominations must be submitted by e-mail to undergrad@psu.edu by noon on Monday, February 10, 2020.  Late submissions cannot be considered. More details about Undergraduate Research at the Capitol are available at http://www.pasen.gov/URCPA/.  Questions may be directed to Alan Reick ajr83@psu.edu or 814-863-1864.
  • Penn State Learning is the free tutoring resource for all Penn State students. Are students already struggling in your class? Penn State Learning offers the following opportunities:
    • To introduce their students to Penn State Learning, faculty may invite a Penn State Learning representative to provide a 10 to 15-minute overview of our services to their classes.  Please complete this class visit request formto request a visit.
    • Faculty teaching writing-intensive courses may request a writing workshop on any writing topic, presented by Penn State Learning writing tutors.  Please fill out this writing workshop request form to schedule a workshop.
    • Instructors may be interested in the cognitive strategies workshop, “Study Smarter,” a tutor-led presentation and discussion on how to develop effective study skills. If you would like to send students to a Study Smarter programs or attend one yourself, please email Penn State Learning’s Teresa Burkhart at TGB11@psu.edu. She will then share the program’s schedule and sign-up link with you Also, if you would like to participate and think a different date/time would work better, they will work with you to plan something.
    • Penn State Learning offers free face-to-face tutoring for undergraduate students enrolled in courses here at University Park campus and free online tutoring for undergraduate students enrolled in courses through World Campus. Trained peer tutors offer assistance in math, science, and language courses as well as writing for any course.  Please see our website for more information about the courses, hours and locations.

ENGAGED LEARNING

  • NIDDK Education Program Grants (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Next due date is January 2021.The over-arching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:
    • Courses for Skills Development: For example, advanced courses in a specific discipline or research area, clinical procedures for research, or specialized research techniques. NIDDK supports skill development for research on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.
    • Research Experiences: For example, for undergraduate students: to provide hands-on exposure to research, to reinforce their intent to graduate with a science degree, and/or to prepare them for graduate school admissions and/or careers in research; for graduate and medical, dental, nursing and other health professional students: to provide research experiences and related training not available through formal NIH training mechanisms; for postdoctorates, medical residents and faculty: to extend their skills, experiences, and knowledge base.  These experiences are expected to be relevant for research within the mission of NIDDK that includes diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.
  • Additional National Institutes for Health (NIH) – R25 Education Projects – These grants are “For support to develop and/or implement a program as it relates to a category in one or more of the areas of education, information, training, technical assistance, coordination, or evaluation.” For currently available R25 grants, search here using the keyword “R25.”
    • NIH Blueprint Program for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (BP-ENDURE) (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)         RFA-NS-20-015
    • NINDS Research Education Opportunities (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) PAR-18-782        NINDS
    • NIA MSTEM: Advancing Diversity in Aging Research through Undergraduate Education (R25)       PAR-17-290            NIA
    • NIMH Research Education Mentoring Programs for HIV/AIDS Researchers (R25)            PAR-17-485            NIMH
    • Providing Research Education Experiences to Enhance Diversity in the Next Generation of Substance Abuse and Addiction Scientists (R25 – Clinical Trials Not Allowed)            PAR-19-246    NIDA
    • Cancer Research Education Grants Program – Curriculum or Methods Development (R25)         PAR-18-476    NCI
    • Cancer Research Education Grants Program – Research Experiences (R25)      PAR-18-478    NCI
    • Cancer Research Education Grants Program – Courses for Skills Development (R25)      PAR-18-477    NCI
  • Interested in health inequality and social justice? Connect with the resources available from the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Penn State Events and Resources

FUNDING—PENN STATE

  • Open Education Resources: Opportunity for university presses publishing Penn State faculty books to get funding to make them open access. Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME)is a collaborative effort between the Association of American Universities, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of University Presses. Penn State’s Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost has committed to funding $45,000 to be split among up to three subvention grants to support publishing open access monographs each year for five years (2018-2023). Each grant will be contributed directly to a press participating in the program for an open access publication of an eligible Penn State faculty-authored work. Rolling application submission.
  • Global Programs Faculty Travel Grants: Global Programs maintains a fund to support faculty travel related to developing global awareness, global literacy and global competency among our undergraduate population. The Faculty Travel Grant (up to a maximum of $3,000 per project) supports faculty members traveling abroad for a short-term stay (1-4 weeks). Transformational Travel Grants are awarded twice annually, with applications due on the following dates: September 30 by 5:00 P.M. (EDT) for travel to take place on or after January 1 of the next year and February 20 by 5:00 P.M. (EST) for travel to take place on or after Dec. 1 of that year. More info and applications: https://global.psu.edu/article/global-programs-faculty-travel-grants·
  • Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence: Teaching Transformation & Innovation grants: The Teaching Project Grants program is designed to provide support for Penn State faculty, departments, and degree-granting programs to engage in projects that support teaching and learning endeavors in undergraduate education. Consultation with SITE staff is required before proposal submission and is available NOW. Proposals are due each Spring semester with funding provided during the following fiscal year.
  • The Office for General Education offers Microgrants for General Education Courses. Do you have an innovative idea to engage students in your General Education course? Share your idea. Request must be for a senate approved General Education course and the maximum request is $500 per class. Apply Here! Requests will be reviewed on a rolling basis and responses can be expected approximately 2 weeks after submission.
  • Honors Course Development/Enhancement Awards: The Schreyer Honors College offers Course Development/Enhancement Awards to support the design, development and improvement of honors courses for our Schreyer Scholars. Awards may be used to develop or enhance a course, secure course materials, support the involvement of special guest speakers, to fund related travel or research costs, to assist students, or some combination thereof. Open submission dates. More information: https://www.shc.psu.edu/faculty/course-awards.cfm

FUNDING—EXTERNAL

General Sources

  • The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) – Postsecondary Education Program – This Department of Education research program contributes to “improving access to, persistence in, and completion of postsecondary education,” particularly for at-risk students.
  • Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – Higher Education Initiatives – This foundation helps universities to “become more entrepreneurial—not only in what they teach and how they teach it, but in how they operate.”
  • Henry Luce Foundation – Higher Education Grants – “The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to bring important ideas to the center of American life, strengthen international understanding, and foster innovation and leadership in academic, policy, religious and art communities.”
  • The Spencer Foundation – This foundation’s mission is to “investigate ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be improved around the world.” It funds grants focusing on several different aspects of higher education.
  • Ford Foundation – Educational initiatives that align with Ford Foundation goals “to reduce poverty and injustice and to promote democratic values, international cooperation and human achievement” might apply for grants or fellowships.
  • Lumina Foundation – This foundation provides funding for initiatives designed to “to increase awareness of the benefits of higher education, improve student access to and preparedness for college, improve student success in college and increase productivity across the higher education system.”
  • The Teagle Foundation – This foundation is “committed to promoting and strengthening liberal education.” Their programs “generally encourage collaboration among institutions, seeking to generate new knowledge on issues of importance to higher education.”
  • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation – Digital Media & Learning Initiative – “The digital media and learning initiative aims to determine how digital media are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life. Answers are critical to education and other social institutions that must meet the needs of this and future generations.”

Funding for Humanities Education

  • National Endowment for the Humanities – Division of Education Programs – “Through its programs devoted to teachers and their students, the division strives to cultivate intellectual curiosity, so that students can deepen their reflections on human experience; increase their understanding of different cultures and societies, past and present; and achieve the knowledge and wisdom necessary for democratic citizenship.”
  • National Endowment for the Humanities – Office of Digital Humanities – “Digital technology has changed the way scholars perform their work. It allows new questions to be raised and has radically changed the ways in which materials can be searched, mined, displayed, taught, and analyzed.”

Funding for Social Science Education

  • Social Science Research Council – Part of the SSRC’s mission is to “educate and train the next generation of social science researchers.” The SSRC sometimes offers fellowships and grants to that end.

 

Funding for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Education

EXTERNAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES·

  • Online Learning Consortium: OLC is a great organization for anyone interested in online or hybrid education. Penn State is an OLC Member and may enable us to help you get a lower cost registration for their programs. Contact Dennis Shea or Susan LeWay if you are interested in something. Upcoming Workshops List for OLC
  • OLC has both a fall and spring conference, as well as face-to-face workshops throughout the year. Learn more:
  • Interested in Engaged Scholarship and Learning? Engaged Scholarship Consortium annual conference in in Philly in September. The goals of community-engaged scholarship are the generation, exchange and application of mutually beneficial and socially useful knowledge and practices developed through active partnerships between the academy and the community. They also offer grant funding for faculty:  https://engagementscholarship.org/
  • American Association of Colleges and Universities conferences and meetings: AACU focuses on connections to liberal arts, general education, and diversity, equity and inclusion, and Penn State faculty have access to their many programs and resources through our institutional membership.  See upcoming programs below. Contact Dennis Shea if interested in any of their activities: https://www.aacu.org/events
  • Upcoming AAC&U webinars highlight work being done at colleges and universities around the country to address challenges and identify best practices. Recordings of previous webinarsare available to watch on-demand.
  • The Carnegie Foundation is the largest convening of pre-K-12 and postsecondary leaders and innovators committed to transformative change in education through continuous improvement approaches. These hands-on learning opportunities will equip you with proven strategies and tools, and will introduce you to colleagues working to solve similar problems.
  • Interested in Adult Learners? Check out the Council on Adult and Experiential Learning upcoming conference in November: https://www.cael.org/conference

 

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