Center for Faculty Development
Teaching Innovation Mini-Grants
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The Center for Faculty Development awards four $300 mini-grants each fall and spring to USM teaching faculty to support innovation in the classroom. Applicants are asked to describe how specific teaching strategies or experiences will motivate and ignite student engagement to improve learning outcomes in the classroom. The funds may be used for materials or services that support strategies including modalities to guide a course lesson plan, to assess student learning, to develop class materials, to support a guest speaker, etc. We encourage faculty to think outside the box and consider cutting edge pedagogical ideas for the classroom along with sustainability of said idea.
Preference will be given to faculty members who have actively utilized opportunities for faculty development from the Center for Faculty Development programs (e.g., Teaching Forums and Workshops, ACUE Faculty Development Institute, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Fellow, etc.) or engaged in other efforts to enhance their instructional skills (e.g. Service Learning Designation, unit level workshops).
Grant recipients will guide a Teaching Forum in the CFD the following semester of their award on the implementation of the described classroom strategy or experience.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
- Course number(s) and title(s)
- Anticipated number of students impacted
- Brief statement of participation in the Center for Faculty Development or other efforts to enhance instructional skills.
- Description of strategy of experience to be supported by Teaching Innovation Mini-Grant, a timeline for implementation, and an itemized cost estimate.
- Description of anticipated impact in the classroom, how the impact will be assessed, and how the project will be sustained.
- Agreement to collaborate with the CFD to disseminate information (e.g., a panel, workshop,
or video) to share your strategy with others.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
Applications for Spring 2025 mini-grants will be accepted until November 15, 2024. Awards will be announced and recipients notified on or before December 2, 2024. Please note, faculty who received a mini-grant within the last academic year are not eligible to apply.
| Allison Downing | Proposal: To build a K12 Science Instructional Resources Database (K12 SIRD) for undergraduate teacher candidates. | Center for STEM Education |
| Jeffrey Parr | Proposal: To purchase and utilize a virtual reality headset to enhance the educational experience of athletic training students in the classroom. | School of Health Professions |
| Candice Salyers | Proposal: To support guest artist Bradford Chin’s disability justice dance workshops and performance creation. | School of Performing and Visual Arts (Dance) |
| Marissa Alawine | Proposal: To purchase durable materials and prizes for the psychology escape room. | School of Psychology |
| Amy LeBert | Proposal: To help support the purchasing a software program titled Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT). | School of Speech and Hearing Sciences |
| Mohsen Foroughi Sabzevar | Proposal: To acquire the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset. | School of Construction and Design |
| Wei Wang | Proposal: To purchase technology equipment for my class. | School of Marketing |
| Zhaoxian Zhou | Proposal: To fund three sets of Robot Car Kits for a hands-on project in the CE101 course, enhancing student engagement and retention through team-based competition and informal instruction. | Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering |
| Matthew Donahue | Proposal: To purchase three Snatoms model kits from Amazon. | Mathematics and Natural Sciences |
| Chao Meng | Proposal: To fund a simulation game using Lego blocks for teaching lean manufacturing concepts. | School of Marketing |
| James Thomas | Proposal: To purchase access to various newspaper databases that are currently unavailable to me through USM. | School of Education |
| Sunny Wells | Proposal: To support an in-person orientation for students beginning their mandatory field experiences in the fully online Secondary MAT (Alternative licensure) program. | School of Education |
| Clinton Martin | Proposal: To bring experts from the construction industry to the online classroom, and to buy Bluetooth headsets for faculty collaborators and outside experts to use to record micro-lectures that will augment topics taught in 6 courses. | School of Construction and Design |
| Christopher Smith | Proposal: To support the participation of graduate students in the College of Business and Economic Development who are interested in real estate development in intercollegiate real estate case competitions. | School of Finance |
| Alyson Brink | Proposal: To fund hands-on candy activities for teaching geology concepts in GLY 103. | College of Arts & Sciences |
| Molly Edwards | Proposal: To properly compensate guest speakers in the NFS 640 Advanced Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) class. | School of Kinesiology and Nutrition |
| Allison Formanack | Proposal: To invite a local historian to share Mississippi folklore with students and to print 20 perfect-bound copies of the student's collected stories for purchase. | College of Arts & Sciences |
| Shana Oates | Proposal: To bring one of the leading assessment practitioners in Student Affairs to speak during my fall Assessment class. | Educational Research and Administration |
| Rebecca Tuuri | Proposal: To fund a field trip for students to enhance their understanding of African American history. | School of Humanities |
| Melissa Kossman | Proposal: To purchase a fully-functioning anatomical skeleton that can be referenced in combination with course content, a vital aspect to the success of our students in the Athletic Training and Kinesiotherapy programs. | School of Health Professions |
| Masha Krsmanovic | Proposal: To fund expert-led workshops for EdD students on dissertation skills and development. | School of Education |
| Alexandra Valint | Proposal: To purchase an escape room game, as well as copies of the classic detective board game Clue. | School of Humanities |
| Shane Wood | Proposal: To purchase microphones and recorders to help with a student podcast project which focuses on embodied listening through multimodalities in digital technologies and explores the genre conventions of podcasting. | School of Humanities |
| Kenneth Christensen | Proposal: To develop more active learning content for the in-person Academic Support I course. | School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development |
| Marie Danforth | Proposal: To support 3D-printed bone models for forensic anthropology education. | School of Social Science and Global Studies |
| Joann Judge | Proposal: To initiate a preliminary program for students enrolled in Adapted Physical Education, Sport, & Activity with the opportunity to engage, interact, or teach individuals with disabilities in physical education, sport, or activity in a practicum setting. | School of Kinesiology & Nutrition |
| Jason Wallace | Proposal: To support scholar-led virtual caucus facilitations and a guest lecture. | School of Education |
| Emily Bes | Proposal: To purchase the educator package VISME for the Spring semester to help with my presentation development. | School of Health Professions |
| Amy LeBert | Proposal: To bring in a behavior specialist to provide an intensive short course focused on providing strategies for students to use during treatment sessions with patients that exhibit mild to severe behavior issues. | School of Speech and Hearing Sciences |
| Katherine Moore | Proposal: To support COVID-adapted methods of teaching Contact Improvisation in my Dance Improvisation course next spring. | School of Performing and Visual Arts |
| Candice Salyers | Proposal: To develop interdisciplinary conversations through a lecture and performance series. | School of Performing and Visual Art (Dance) |
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