Description:     
Institute contact: Crystal Hanson chanson32@gatech.edu 

To enhance the interaction across the Institute’s teaching and research activities, the Office of the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research (VPIR) announces the Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 Research Faculty Teaching Fellows Program. This program seeks to offer research faculty the opportunity to become first-time instructors, and for those who have taught in the past, the ability to turn their cutting-edge research programs into instructional programs that enhance the teaching missions in the academic units.

Award 
The program provides resources for partial coverage of salaries and fringe benefits but does not cover indirect costs. Fellows receive a maximum of 2 months salary per three-unit course for: preparation, instructional effort, and student/academic unit interactions. Please note that additional funding from the teaching unit may be required. Up to 20% of the funds may be released to the fellow prior to the start of the semester to cover hours for the June CTL training and other planning activities.

Eligible Parties 
The Research Faculty Teaching Fellows Program provides opportunities for research faculty who work outside of the academic units (e.g., GTRI, EI2, OIT, IRIs, and GCMI units to participate in academic unit instructional and related programs. Research faculty within academic units are also eligible to apply if teaching is not already one of their standard job responsibilities. Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible for this program.

Award Timeline    
Application Deadline: January 7, 2024    
Recipients Notified By: February 29, 2024

Details    
All applicants must have a mentor in an academic unit and have a course approved in that same department prior to applying.    
Priority will be given to proposals from research faculty who are:

  • Seeking initial teaching experience    
    and/or
  • Offering new, innovative courses based upon their unique expertise
  • Offering a new course for the second time

First-time applicants with no prior teaching experience should strongly consider teaching an existing course. Applicants who have participated in the program previously are encouraged to teach an original course. Capstone courses, regardless of the variety in topics, are not considered original for the purposes of this program. No one may participate in the Research Faculty Teaching Fellows program more than twice in a three-year period.

Fellows will receive training and support through the Center for Teaching and Learning. This training will include a Course Design Studio during the summer, a Research Faculty Teaching Fellows Learning Community that will meet monthly during the semester in which each fellow is teaching, and an observation and early course feedback session with a CTL consultant. All elements of the training are mandatory.

The objectives of the Research Faculty Teaching Fellows Program are to:

  1. Strengthen the relationships and encourage an on-going collaboration between academic faculty and research faculty who are outside of the academic units.
  2. Enhance the educational experiences of undergraduate and graduate students.
  3. Allow research faculty who have never taught before to engage in that experience.
  4. As appropriate, supplement and complement the scholarly expertise within the academic units with the research faculty’s expertise through:
    • Development of new, advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses that bring cutting-edge research concepts into the classroom, or
    • Enhancement of existing, advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses with cutting-edge research concepts.

Research faculty who participates in this program are expected to become involved in other activities that would be appropriate for the academic unit in which they are teaching. Such activities may include maintaining office hours outside of the classroom for student consultation; serving on committees; advising students; development team-taught courses; and collaborating on proposals for instructional and/or research projects.

Final approval will be made by the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research office based upon the anticipated contribution to the Institute’s overall mission and the availability of funds. Awards will be announced by February 29, 2024. 

https://gatech.infoready4.com/#applicationGrid/1915010