Nord Grants

Nord Grants support UCITE’s mission of empowering people to learn.  Nord Grant funding supports the development of innovative faculty teaching and research projects that directly benefit student learning.

Funding may be used to present at a conference associated with teaching and education, to invite speakers to the university, for innovative large-scale projects, or for salaries/stipends to hire project assistants.  Funding is unlikely to be awarded for faculty salaries or teaching-release time.  In general, Nord Grants are more likely to be awarded for smaller amounts, benefitting significant numbers of students, and directly impacting learning/teaching.

• Duration of awards:  One-year, with the possibility of extension.
• Deadlines: Awards are given twice yearly, with starting dates of January 30 and July 30. Deadlines are May 31 for proposals starting July 30, and December 16 for a January 30 start.
• Award limits:  Awards have no financial parameters. They are commensurate with justification provided. Past grants have gone as high as $7,000. Priority is given to faculty without previous grants.

Application process: Requests should include a two-page letter, and one-page detailed budget. An example for the budget page is given here.  Page limits are strict, unless reviewers request more information. Whatever the project, the proposal should contain the following sections:

1. Project Description:  a brief statement of the purpose, rationale and scope of the project, and the reason a grant must be used instead of department/school funds.
2. Student Impact: a detailed explanation of how this project will impact student learning.
3. Professional Impact: a description of how this project will help you to continue to develop as a professional educator.
4. Metrics and Data collection: outcome measurement objectives and plan to collect the data.
5. Department Contact: the contact information for your department administrator, grant administrator or business manager. 
6. Letters of support are also required to acknowledge your proposal and to demonstrate any additional support for your project from university resources.  As an example of the latter, if you were planning a new interdisciplinary course or research project, you would include a letter from the other department(s) involved, to demonstrate support for your proposal.  Letters of support should be sent as pdf files as part of your proposal packet, and will be combined with your application for review. 
7. Additional letters of support, as appropriate, from university resources.
8. The budget sheet must be co-signed by the department chair or associate dean.
9. All materials should be sent to ucite@case.edu.
10. Applicants should also complete the contact form, located here.

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

Proposals (including budget) will be publicly accessible. Accepting an award means the proposer agrees, unless explicitly requested otherwise. 

1. Budget: Budgets must conform with rules of the proposer's department, school, and the university. The proposer must check with appropriate entities to be sure their items meet such criteria before submitting the budget. UCITE approves on the basis of its appropriateness. UCITE approval does not imply conformance to university rules (such as the need to obtain IRB approval) which are the responsibility of the proposer. The budget should list the title and amount of prior Nord Grants received by the requester and be signed by the department chair or other appropriate supervisory authority in schools where there is not department structure.
2. Eligibility: Eligible faculty must expect to stay with the university for a significant amount of time. Visiting faculty, SAGES Fellows, and graduate students are are not normally eligible unless their activities will benefit CWRU students after the grant recipient has left the university.    
3. Final Report: Within two months after the award period ends, the proposer must file a brief report on spending and  project accomplishments, including impact on student learning.  A summary of budget expenditures must also be included.
4. Public Presentation:  At the end of each academic year, Nord Grant recipients who have completed their projects will give a short public presentation at a Nord Grant forum.  As an example, a recipient who completes their project by March 31 of any given academic year, should be prepared to present at the end of that spring semester.
5. Publicity: Grant recipients may be invited record a brief talk about their project for the UCITE website or other university publicity purposes.

Nord Grants Awarded

The following faculty were awarded grants to fund the listed proposals.