1. CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, AND ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY
(For Tenure Track Faculty Only)
Scholarship for Teaching and Learning (SoTL) MINI-GRANT PROGRAM
Dr. Steve A. Buddington, Dr. Eartha Lee Johnson and Dr. Dorothy J. Smith
Co-Coordinators
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PURPOSE
Faculty Learning Communities (FLC)/SoTL Research Mini-Grants
FLC defined: A faculty learning community (FLC) is a cross-disciplinary group of 6-15 faculty and staff
engaging in an active, collaborative, yearlong program researching teaching and learning
strategies (Milton D. Cox, Miami University, Ohio, 2004).:
*The current pedagogical and research types of FLCs at Dillard consist of:
• Active Learning
• Critical Thinking
• Student Engagement and Global Studies
• Student Learning Communities in the Sciences
• Using Clicker Technology
• Faculty Research/Creativity
* Faculty members may create their own FLCs in consultation with a CTLAT committee member (s). Please
note that the newly created FLC requires approval in order to receive funding from the faculty
enhancement program and upon final submission should include: description, references, and other
pertinent information e.g. team leader, member (s), etc.
Purpose of the Mini-Grant: The purpose of the Faculty Learning Communities (FLC)/SoTL Research Mini-
Grants program is to provide seed funding primarily for tenure tracked faculty members to conduct
original research or artistic creation disseminated through publication(s), exhibitions, and performances.
The intention of the program is to encourage FLC groups/teams, *current or **newly created to use this
seed funding as leverage to establish or expand a sustainable research agenda.

2. FLC groups/teams “comprising of at least two (2) faculty members” from the Humanities and Social
Sciences are especially encouraged to apply as acknowledged in the Mellon Foundation Grant Proposal.
This grant application is a competitive process.
The Review Protocol: The grant applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of senior
members of the faculty respected for their grantsmanship and research portfolio. We are seeking to build
upon the current grant with the intent to encourage more faculty members in the areas of the humanities
and social sciences to become engaged in research by using FLCs model.
Grant Award(s): Amount: minimum $1000/faculty member from each Faculty Learning
Communities/SoTL groups/teams will be awarded in 2011 – 2012 grant year.
Disbursement Criteria of Award: The research mini grants will be awarded as stipends on a competitive
basis once the research manuscript has been submitted for publication in a refereed journal or some
other final creative product that is peer reviewed, e.g. exhibitions, artistic show.
GUIDELINES
1. Qualifications. The competition is open to full-time tenure track faculty members who will
remain on the faculty during the upcoming academic year, 2013-2014. Proposals SHALL only be
accepted from FLC groups/teams, comprising of the required minimum of two faculty members.
Proposals may have Fall start dates or Spring start dates.
2. Amount. Investigators may request up to $1,000.00/faculty.
3. Expenditures. Allowable expenditures include, but are not limited to: stipend, travel, equipment,
supplies, software, and books.
4. Deliverable. It is expected that the deliverable of this project will be a paper submitted for
publication in a refereed journal or some other final creative product that is peer reviewed, e.g.
exhibitions, artistic show, etc.
FORMAT
1. Proposals shall not exceed seven pages total in length. The cover sheet shall not exceed one page,
the narrative shall be no longer than five pages, and the budget shall not exceed one page. The
proposal should be typed in word format and in 12 point font size.
2. All proposals should include a cover sheet with the title of the project, the names, academic titles, e-
mail addresses, and phone numbers of all investigators. All members of the FLC must be identified
e.g. principal investigator, team leader (s), member (s) of the proposal must be specified. The PI
will receive all official correspondence. The cover sheet must also state whether the start date of
the project is at the beginning of the Fall or the beginning of the Spring. (Form attached)
3. All proposals must include a detailed line-by-line item budget with justification on a separate
page. (Form attached)
4. Abstract of Project-Include an overview of the conduct of project (200 words maximum)
5. The project narrative should include subheadings describing the intellectual merit of the project-
stated purpose and significance of the research/project, hypothesis/research question/statement
of creative vision, methodology, explanation on how the research/project will impact/benefit the

3. community(broader impact) and the faculty and student development, explanation of how the
project will be sustained beyond the initial funding to include potential other funding sources (e.g.
BOR, NSF), how will the data be distributed to or shared with the community (e.g. Journal,
exhibitions, etc.) (See attachment)
6. Proposals will be subjected to a blind review. Cover sheets will be removed before proposals are
distributed to reviewers. Identifying information should not appear anywhere in the proposal
except on the cover sheet. An individual proposal number will be assigned to each proposal
application. The grant proposals will be reviewed by a committee composed of senior members of
the faculty respected for their grantsmanship and research portfolio.
7. Include Bibliography
8. Any deviations from the required format may result in disqualification.
DATES FOR SUBMISSION, NOTIFICATIONS, AND OUTCOMES
Deadline for Submission 5:00 p.m.: Friday, May 11, 2012 - FINAL EXTENSION - for a Spring start date
and Friday, October 12, 2012 for a Fall, 2012 start date.
It is anticipated that the investigators will be notified by 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 20, for the Spring
semester start date and Friday, October 19, 2012 for the Fall semester start date.
Disbursement Criteria of Award: The research mini grants will be awarded as stipends once the research
manuscript has been submitted for publication in a refereed journal or some other final creative product
that is peer reviewed, e.g. exhibitions, artistic show.
All investigators awarded funds will be required to turn a report into the Office of Academic Affairs
documenting how the funds were used and providing a progress report on the status of the final
publication/presentation.
Progress Report: The progress report is due Friday, November 2, 2012 for projects with a Spring start
date and due Friday, March 15, 2013 for projects with a Fall start date.
Final Report: Final proof of manuscript submission to a refereed journal or some other final creative
product that is peer reviewed, e.g. exhibitions, artistic show is due on Friday, February 8, 2013 for a
Spring start date and Friday, June 7, 2013 for a Fall start date.
QUESTIONS
Any questions can be forwarded to Drs. Steve Buddington (504-816-4178) and Eartha Johnson
(504-816-4429) at sbuddington@dillard.edu and ejohnson@dillard.edu, respectively or Dr. Phyllis W.
Dawkins, Provost and Director of CTLAT, at pdawkins@dillard.edu (816-4368) or to. (See the attached
list).
PROCESS FOR SUBMISSION
Proposals should be submitted electronically to Drs. Buddington/Johnson, CTLAT Coordinators and the
Provost, by e-mail, as a Word attachment, no later than 5:00pm on the due dates.

4. CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, AND ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY/ MINI GRANT
CRITERIA
PROPOSAL #__________________ (Assigned at time of submission)
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria: 100 Possible Points
A. Intellectual Merit
1. Is there a clearly stated purpose and significance of the research/project? _________ of 15
2. Is there a clearly stated hypothesis/research question/statement _________ of 5
of creative vision? (Expected Results)
3. Research Plan/Activity (qualitative/quantitative data) _________ of 20
a. How sound is the methodology?
4. Is there value of the research/activity to the applicant’s and _________ of 5
student development?
5. How will the research impact the community- What are the benefits? _________ of 10
a. Is it publishable?
b. What is the broader impact?
6. Bibliography _________of 5
B. Potential Competitiveness
1. What is the likelihood that funding of project will result in competitive _________of 10
status for outside support (e.g. BOR, NSF, etc.)?
2. Does the proposal demonstrate that the project can be sustained _________of 10
beyond the initial funding period?
C. Appropriateness of the Budget
1. Budget is reasonable for the scope of work to be performed _________of 10
2. Budget demonstrates a detailed and appropriate use of funds _________of 10
a. It is written in a clear line-by-line item format.
TOTAL SCORE A thru C _________ of 100
The CTLAT Committee will evaluate, score, and rank proposals based on the criteria stated above and make
funding recommendations to the Director, who will seek final approval from the Provost.

5. SoTL MINI-GRANT COVER PAGE
PROPOSAL #_________________________________(Assigned at time of submission)
Please indicate the project schedule preference below:
Spring 2012____________________________ Fall 2012 _________________________________
FLC Team Leader/Principal Investigator (PI):___________________________________________________________________
Department_____________________________ Rank: (i.e., Asst., Assoc., Prof., etc.) _________________________________________
E-mail address:____________ Phone #’s: Office ________________________Home_____________________Cell_______________
Joint Proposals (List all):
Co-PI(s) __________________________________________________Rank: _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ Rank: _______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________Rank:________________________________________________________
Department(s) (List All) _______________________________________________________________________________________________
*Additional Names (List here)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please list additional individuals on an extra sheet with their rank) (i.e., Asst., Assoc., Prof., etc.)
Title of Project:
This project will use (check what is applicable):
_______Animal Subjects (IRB required) ______Biohazards/Human Blood
_______Human Subjects (IRB required) ______Recombinant DNA
_______Radiation/Isotopes/Lasers ______Controlled Substances
_______Additional Space Allocations ______Student participation
Resources Requested:
1. Amount Requested from Dillard University$_________________
2. Budget Summary (include the line budget with application)
a. Travel $_______________
b. Operating $_______________
c. Other $_______________
d. Total: $________________

6. Applicant’s signature: Indicates agreement to the stipulations listed in the Application Instructions.
Applicant’s Signature_______________________________________________________________________Date_____________________
PROPOSAL BUDGET
PROPOSAL #________________(Assigned at time of submission)
1. Material and Supplies: $______________
List
2. Travel: $______________
3. Equipment: List $______________
4. Software: List $_____________
5. Books: $_____________
6. Conference $_____________
Fees/Activities:
7. Publication/ $_____________
Presentation/Creative work
Project display Cost:
8. Stipends: $____________
9. Other: List items $____________
Justification of Budget: By-the-numbers: (Use extra sheet if need to and indicate here)
PROPOSAL
Project Narrative: Proposal #_______________________________________
Abstract: Proposal #___________________________________________________

7. Center for Teaching, Learning, and Academic Technology
Committee
Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, Director
Members CONTACT INFORMATION
Johnson, Eartha Lee DUICEF Building, Room 231 - 816-4429;816-4701
Okpalaeze, Azubike Howard House, 816-4779
Hobbs, James Howard House, ITT, Room 106 - 816-4872
Jean-Perkins, Ramona DUICEF Building, Room, 234- 816-4091
Smith, Dorothy DUICEF Building, Room 214 - 816-4527
Carla Morelon Rosenwald Hall, Room, 301 - 816-4165
Darwish, Abdalla Professional Schools Building, Room 324 - 816-4840
Charles, Cynthia Will W. Alexander Library, Room, 2nd Floor - 816- 4263
Broadway, Ruby Stern Hall Room, Room 122G - 816-4725
Buddington, Steve DUICEF Building, Room 233, 816-4178;816-4701
Dawkins, Phyllis Worthy Academic Affairs, Room - 816-4662;816-4664
Center Coordinators
Member CONTACT INFORMATION
Buddington, Steve DUICEF Building, Room 233 - 816-4178; 816-4701
Johnson, Eartha Lee DUICEF Building, Room 231 - 816-4429; 816-4701