Committee on Educational Research & Development

Welcome to the Educational Research & Development Committee

The Educational Research & Development (ER&D) Committee is a multi-constituency committee made up of faculty, students, and administrative staff. The committee receives and considers proposals for new educational programs and makes grants in support of pedagogical initiatives and innovation. The committee also assists departments and programs in the development and implementation of assessment activities, as requested.

AY24-25 Committee
Soo Hong 21-25 (B), Chair
Megan Kerr 23-26 (C)
Jacqueline Musacchio 22-25 (A)
Lisa Rodensky (A), PLTC Faculty Director
Franklyn Turbak 22-25 (C)
Akila Weerapana 22-23, 24-26 (B)

Assistant Provost for Institutional Planning & Assessment designee: Sarah Pociask
Provost & Dean of the College's designee: Marcy Archfield
Student Representatives: Kylan Yang, Jules Davidson, Nico Jo

 

Award Applications

A. Apgar Grant (newly established grant)
 
  • Purpose: To support the development of an innovative and unique pedagogical project that cultivates students' interest, curiosity, and love of learning. See the established guidelines for the new Apgar Grant. 
  • Allowable expenditures: Funds can be used to support professional development, the cultivation of new and innovative pedagogies, research that fosters pedagogical innovations, the creation of new courses as well as improvements to existing courses. The grant may be used toward travel expenses, conference participation, course development materials, and other materials and activities that support innovations in teaching. The committee encourages faculty to be creative and expansive about the ways in which they propose to use the award. 
  • Deadline: April 9, 2025

B. General Course Grant

  • Purpose: To support the development of a new departmental course, including first-year seminars and labs, or to revise or support an existing departmental course.

  • Allowable expenditures: Research assistance for course development; the purchase of materials for course development and instructional activities (e.g. books and audiovisual materials); activity-related expenses required for course development and instructional activities; training or support in instructional technology. Grants may not be used for student or faculty entertainment. Normally, there is a $1000 maximum for requests to purchase books or audiovisual materials.

  • Fall Deadlines: September 25, 2024; November 13, 2024
  • Spring Deadlines: February 19, 2025; April 9, 2025 

 

C. Pedagogical Travel Grant

  • Purpose: To support travel to conferences specifically related to teaching, or to support participation in a workshop or class related to the subject you teach.
  • Allowable expenditures: Please follow travel expenditure guidelines listed under Guidelines on Awards to Faculty for Scholarly Activities.
  • Fall Deadlines: September 25, 2024; November 13, 2024
  • Spring Deadlines: February 19, 2025; April 9, 2025 

 

D. Experimental Course Grant

  • Purpose: To support the development of experimental courses with innovative subject matter and/or pedagogy. Courses should fall outside of departmental offerings, but may support interdisciplinary programs or represent emerging areas of study. See listing for examples of previously-funded experimental courses.
  • Allowable expenditures: See B. and C. 
  • Deadline: November 13, 2024

 

E. Team Taught Experimental Course Grant

  • Purpose: To support the development of team taught experimental courses with innovative subject matter and/or pedagogy. Courses should fall outside of departmental offerings, but may support interdisciplinary programs or represent emerging areas of study. Teaching replacement units (up to 2 per course to be determined by the Provost's Office in accordance with staffing needs) will be awarded to the departments/programs of the faculty involved. Each course will count as a full unit of teaching credit for both faculty members involved. SEQs will be used as the course evaluation instrument. See listing for examples of previously-funded team taught experimental courses.
  • Allowable expenditures: See B. and C. 
  • Deadline: November 13, 2024

 

F. "Quick-Fix" Grants 

Faculty can apply for one Quick-Fix Grant per academic year, up to $500.

  • Purpose: To support the development of a new departmental course, including first-year seminars and labs, or to revise or support an existing departmental course. These grants fund projects for amounts of $500 or less. There are no deadlines for these types of grants.  
  • Allowable expenditures: See B. and C. Field trip expenses related to a course should be a departmental expense whenever possible. Transportation cost is an eligible expense of the Quick Fix grant whenever the department is not able to assist with funding. Please review the note about transportation expenses below in "Award Guidelines."
  • Guidelines: These grants are only awarded for projects that have not yet occurred. 
  • Deadline: Decisions are made on a rolling basis.

  "Quick-Fix" Grants for Inclusive Excellence 

  • Purpose: These grants fund projects to address an expense furthering inclusive excellence for amounts of $500 or less. Faculty can apply for these grants in order to reduce financial gaps for students enrolled in a specific course. There are no deadlines for these types of grants.  
  • Allowable expenditures: Examples of allowable expenditures include textbooks or supplies to be purchased on behalf of students with a stated financial need.  
  • Guidelines: Faculty may choose to gift these supplies/books or may choose to lend them and collect them back at the end of the semester. Individual students cannot be identified in the application and students cannot be required to apply to receive course supplies/books. Approved funds cannot be given directly to a student. 
  • Deadline: Decisions are made on a rolling basis. 

 

Award Guidelines

  • All instructional faculty may apply.
  • Faculty may apply for up to a total of $3,000 per academic year for General and Pedagogical Travel Grants. Up to $7,500 per course is available for Experimental Course Grants. Up to $5,000 per course is available for Team Taught Experimental Course Grants. (Experimental Grants count towards the $3,000 per instructor per academic year allotment). Each faculty member may apply for more than one grant at any time up to the dollar limit.
  • Grant applications that do not include a comprehensive assessment response may be returned for follow-up or not be approved. Please provide an explanation of how you will evaluate the funded activity's impact on student learning. Be sure to (1) describe how the proposed course revisions, pedagogical enhancements activities, and/or materials in this proposal will support the achievement of key course learning goals; and (2) how you will know that this learning has happened (e.g., what sources of information you will review to find out whether students achieved the learning you hoped they would). Here are some examples of common sources of information that faculty use to evaluate the impact of their proposed teaching innovations: course assignments / assessments, student reflections or survey responses designed specifically for this course, end of semester feedback provided by students, or a standardized assessment / test. For assistance with developing an assessment plan, please contact Sarah Pociask, Assistant Director of Assessment.
  • If funds are requested for a new course, please indicate in the body of your email that your department has approved the course and "cc:" your department chair when you send the application.
  • We encourage applicants to exhaust alternative campus funding before applying, and to seek complementary funding when appropriate.
  • Proposals requesting computer hardware or software should first be presented via email to David O'Steen (Director, Research & Instructional Support).
  • Proposals requesting films, CDs, books, interactive media, and other, one-time library purchases should first be presented to the Director of Library Collections. Upon project completion, all such materials should be given to the Clapp Library for general use.
  • Proposals requesting funds for guest lectures should consider applying to the Committee on Lectures and Cultural Events.
  • In the case of Pedagogical Travel Grants, faculty should also make use of their standard Grants for Travel to Professional or Scholarly Meetings (see I.B. under Guidelines on Awards to Faculty for Scholarly Activities).
  • When the sums applied for exceed the funds available for making awards, the Committee will ordinarily give preference to those who have not previously received such grants. Ordinarily no retroactive awards are made.
  • The Committee does not fund repeated activities. It funds only the first occurrence of a particular activity. For future occurrences of the same activity, faculty should seek alternative sources of funding.
  • Awards are not guaranteed, and funds are limited. The Committee favors applicants that:
    1. adhere to guidelines and meet deadlines
    2. provide lucid and specific explanations of how the grant funds will improve courses and instruction at Wellesley College;
    3. propose activities that will benefit more than a small number of students;
    4. demonstrate that alternative funding sources are either exhausted or unavailable; and
    5. have not already received Committee funding for similar activities.
  • Each grant may be open for a total of 12 months, though any grant can be closed earlier (either due to funds being exhausted or by faculty request).
  • In estimating transportation costs, faculty should review the Group/Field Trip Transportation Guidelines. These guidelines include the various transportation options available, as well as an approved list of vendors. For any safety-related questions while preparing a field trip, please be in touch with Wellesley's Risk Management Department:  riskmanagement@wellesley.edu.

  • Applications will be accepted beginning in September of each academic year.

 

The Mellon Course Development Grant 

There is strong enthusiasm among faculty for the development of courses that more intentionally cross disciplinary lines, particularly in the humanities. With this in mind, we are announcing a new source of funds, made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. This funding is intended to help faculty develop new interdisciplinary courses that can create new connections or relationships with other departments and help students see connections between disciplines to which they would otherwise not be exposed.

This new opportunity is available to all faculty. Eligible projects will be funded starting in Fall 2021 and continue into the 2024-2025 academic year. ER&D will select and fund up to 4 projects each academic year with a maximum budget of $3,500 per project.

For information regarding grant requirements and guidelines, please click here

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Assessment

The ER&D Committee’s new and expanded role includes working with the Office of Institutional Research to provide resources to support assessment. We invite departments and programs interested in evaluating a course, or a component of a course, to reach out to ER&D at erd@wellesley.edu.