We invite proposals for grants from several different Targeted Opportunity Faculty Development Funds. These grants are awarded for work that falls outside the more traditional scholarship and creative work supported by external grants and the large FDE grants. One may apply for course release (one or two) or stipend support and/or expenses for any of the following purposes:

  1. Major curricular innovations (including those using new information technologies).
  2. New directions in scholarly or creative work that are not likely to result in a visible product at the end of the grant (as the large FDE grant requires).
  3. Mid-career shifts of scholarly or teaching field or sub-field (including, e.g., development of capability on new scientific instrumentation).
  4. Activities that would involve faculty interactions requiring a substantial commitment of time from one or two organizing faculty (such as seminars).
  5. Activities that would involve faculty-student interactions requiring a substantial commitment of time from one or two organizing faculty.
  6. Significant professional involvement in national or international organizations requiring a substantial time commitment.
  7. Supplements to a major external grant (e.g., to “top up” salary, provide benefits, and/or cover expenses).
  8. One might apply for two course releases for a single term and thus have a term “in residence,” freed from teaching courses but participating fully in advising, department and college activities, including committee work. Such a term would count for sabbatical eligibility (unlike leave terms).

Proposals for Targeted Opportunity grants should contain the following:

Narrative Description

  • Abstract  (150-200 words)
  • Narrative Project Description (3-5 pages single-spaced)
    Describe the nature of the proposed program of scholarship, artistic work, and/or professional growth and its product using non-technical language. Faculty Grants Committee members come from a range of disciplines and may not be familiar with discipline-specific language, so you should write for a general audience, rather than an audience of your disciplinary peers. The project description should include:
    • A description of the activities to be undertaken with the support of the grant. If the proposal is for time, please be specific about why you need a term off to support these activities. Why would this funding be the most beneficial now?
    • The likely contribution of the work to the appropriate discipline, artistic field, or specialty and the intended visible product. Be specific about the intellectual argument or artistic shape you expect your project to take; give detailed examples. 
    • The likely contribution, if any, to departmental and College curricular goals.

Timeline and Feasibility

  • Timeline including how much progress you have already made on the project and when might you (realistically) expect to complete it?
  • Address the feasibility of the proposed project, including resources and time commitment.

Budget

Funding requests may include: salary or stipend, domestic or foreign travel, instructional fees, materials and supplies, administrative assistance, research assistance, publication and communication expenses, and any other categories of assistance which might be necessary to advance the faculty member’s program of activities. 

For applicants requesting salary funds, please indicate “one-third of salary”; do not include a dollar amount.

Note: Up to full salary for time off may be requested in the budget, but the full budget may not exceed a full term’s salary under any circumstances. The Committee reserves the right to review budgets and, exercising its judgment, reduce them if it feels this appropriate and necessary. Benefits will be paid by the College in the same manner as when faculty are on sabbatical

Applicants wishing to pool money from the Faculty Development Endowment and other support not yet received must show that their project would be viable and useful if they were to receive only the Carleton portion of the funds for which they are applying.

Allocations for Targeted Opportunity Grants will be made by the Faculty Grants Committee. Proposals for any of these purposes should not exceed four pages.

Submit an electronic copy of your proposal to the Provost’s Office. Also submit the electronic Internal Grant Application Cover Sheet.