Nord Grants

The Nord Family Foundation is a successor to a charitable trust established in 1952 by the entrepreneur and industrialist Walter G. Nord. Mr. Nord and his family believed that it was both responsible and prudent for a business to invest in the community it served.  Two of Mr. Nord’s children, Evan and Eric Nord, were early donors to UCITE, and they sponsored the Nord Grant program to promote faculty innovation in teaching.

Nord Grants are one-year awards which support UCITE’s goal of empowering people to learn through the development of innovative faculty teaching and research projects that directly benefit student learning. Projects may be created by individual faculty members or in collaboration with others, including members of educational and cultural institutions external to CWRU.

Successful proposals typically include at least one of the following approaches:

• the development of innovative teaching methods or instructional tools;
• technological innovations to assist with student learning; and/or
• the creation or revision of courses.

Use of grant funding within these proposals may include, but is not limited to:

• innovative application of technology to deepen student learning;
• inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations to create student learning opportunities beyond the classroom environment;
• presentation at a conference associated with teaching, education, or student learning;
• visiting scholars who will address issues related to teaching and learning; and
• creation of research communities consisting of CWRU faculty and students (undergraduate or graduate), focusing on a specific issue related to teaching and learning.

Funding

• Nord Grants have no fixed financial parameters. Project support is commensurate with provided justification. Priority is given to faculty who have not previously been awarded a Nord Grant.
• Grant funding is provided for one-year, with the possibility of extension.
• Awards are given twice yearly, with starting dates of January 1 and July 1.

Eligibility

Full-time CWRU faculty who intend to maintain university employment for a substantial period of time are eligible to apply for a Nord Grant. Visiting faculty, SAGES Fellows, and graduate students are not typically eligible unless their activities can be demonstrated to benefit CWRU students after the grant recipient has left the university.

Application Procedure

Fellowship applications consist of two parts: an online form and a PDF submission. The application window for the January 2020 awards will open September 1, 2019.

Part 1: online form

Complete an online form that provides UCITE with necessary contact information. The contact form will be made available on September 1, 2019.

Part 2: PDF submission

Compile the following documents in the order below into one PDF. The PDF should be no longer than five pages unless additional materials are required.

• Project Description (two pages)  Offer a brief statement of the purpose, rationale, and scope of the project, and the reason a grant must be used instead of or in addition to department/school funds. This portion should include the components listed below.
  • Student Impact: a detailed explanation of how this project will impact student learning
  • Professional Impact: a description of how this project will help you continue to develop as a professional educator
  • Metrics and Data collection: outcome measurement objectives and data collection plan
  • Department Contact: the contact information for your department administrator/grant or business manager
• Budget (one page).  An example for the budget page is given here.
• Letter of Support (one page)
  • Include a letter from your department chair, indicating their initial review of your proposal and budget. The chair should comment on your proposed project timeline, the possibility of departmental or outside financial support, and the overall practicality of the proposal. The chair should also indicate support for the budget, including the total funding amount.
• Curriculum Vitae (one page)

Additional Pages (as needed).  Letters of support are requested, as appropriate, from university resources. These types of letters are necessary to acknowledge collaborative support of your proposal from other units within the university. For example, if you are planning a new interdisciplinary course or research project, you might include a letter from the other department(s) involved, demonstrating support for your proposal. Include these additional signed letters of support in an appendix after the curriculum vitae.

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

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

Budget

Budgets must conform with the rules of the proposer's department and school, as well as those of the university. Grant applicants must check with appropriate entities to be sure their items meet such criteria before submitting the budget. UCITE approves a proposal on the basis of its appropriateness. UCITE approval does not imply conformance to university rules (such as the need to obtain IRB approval); the proposal author is responsible for checking and complying with such rules. The budget should list the titles and amounts of any prior Nord Grants received by the requester. Support for the budget, including the total funding amount, should be included in the letter from the department chair (or other appropriate supervisory authority in schools where there is not a department structure).

FYI: Public Disclosure 

• Proposals (including budget) will be publicly accessible. Accepting an award means the proposer agrees, unless explicitly requested otherwise.
• Nord Grant recipients will collaborate with UCITE in publicizing their project to the CWRU community through our website and other appropriate venues.

Reporting 

• Within two months after the award period ends, the grant recipient must file a report with UCITE (approximately 300 words) that contains project accomplishments, including impact on student learning. The report will be published in UCITE’s annual report.
• Recipients must also file a brief summary of budget expenditures, to be kept on file.

Presentation  

At the end of each academic year, Nord Grant recipients will give a short public presentation at a UCITE Innovation Forum.

Publicity and Acknowledgements

• Any resulting publications and presentations should acknowledge the support of UCITE. For example, “The author of this publication received financial support from a CWRU UCITE Nord Grant for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.”
  • Please submit electronic copies of any publications.
• Nord Grant recipients may be invited to record brief comments 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.