Grants/Awards

Mini-Grants

In 2002, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, through the office of assessment, established a mini-grant fund to help support programs effort to improve their assessment of student academic achievement.  While the range of the mini-grants is generally between $300 and $750, larger grants are approved depending on the scope and significance of the project.  As of spring 2008, approximately $9,400 has been given to academic units to assist with assessment-related activities. For example:

• The Department of English and Linguistics used the mini-grant to provide stipend for part-time faculty who helped to evaluate a sample of research papers collected from general education writing courses. The results of the evaluation have already been submitted and are now part of the department’s discussion for curricular change.
• The Department of Consumer and Family Science (CFS) is currently using the mini-grant funds to support a student worker to do data entry. CFS is conducting a needs assessment to determine students’ needs regarding the scheduling and sequencing of courses.
• The Department of Communication used mini-grant funds to support departmental assessment committee members to travel to the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Assessment Conference. This resulted in significant revisions to the department’s assessment plan.
• The Department of Psychology used the min-grant to fund a temporary staff to assist with compiling data collected from a survey of majors and alumni. This data played a major part in the department’s program review, and led to revisions in their assessment plan as well as curricular changes.

Download Application [PDF]

Vice Chancellor Assessment Project (VCAP) Grant

The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs is pleased to announce the Assessment Project Grant (VCAP) to support program effort to document evidence of student learning and make curricular changes based on evidence.  There are five key differences between the VCAP grant and the Assessment Mini-Grants: (1) award amount (2) application deadline (3) significance of the project (4) funding timeline, and (5) responsibility of recipient. The VCAP grant does not replace the assessment mini-grants; assessment mini-grants will still be awarded, with a flexible deadline, to fund routine ongoing assessment activities.

VCAP Award Amount:

The award amount is between $1000 and $1500. At most, five selected eligible projects will be funded annually each academic year.  Funding may be directly used for project-related expenses or may be used for professional development.

Application Deadline:

All proposals for the 2011-2012 academic year must be submitted by December 1, 2011. A competitive review will be conducted to select and fund projects that have the greatest likelihood of maximizing impact on student learning.

Project Significance:

Proposals must meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. Going beyond where you are now
2. Trying something that has not been done in your department
3. Implementing an assessment technique that is generally considered to be innovative or innovative in your discipline
4. Assessment of a multiple section General Education course

Examples:

• If your department has never had a formal assessment plan, you meet criteria 1
• If your department has not used rubrics widely, you meet criteria 2
• If portfolio assessment is seldom used in the teaching of your discipline, you meet criteria 3

Projects should be 3-12 months in duration.

Funding Timeline:

Unless there is sufficient justification, funding will be awarded upon completion of the project.

Eligibility:

All schools, programs, departments, and academic support units are eligible to apply. Proposals should be developed and submitted by or in consultation with the individual(s) responsible for assessment in the respective unit. Proposals must be approved by the head of the unit. In general, no more than one grant per academic year will be approved for an individual unit.

Proposal:

• Describe your project and which condition(s) it meets. Provide evidence, if necessary, of how innovative or new your project is.
• State your expectations. How will the completed project enhance program assessment? Improve student learning? Help you improve your program?
• State the activities/tasks to be performed and who will be responsible for them
• Create a schedule or time frame
• Describe how you will evaluate the effectiveness or success of your project
• Explain how the results will be implemented
• Indicate the amount you are requesting and how it will be spent
• Include a completed signed agreement form
• VCAP Agreement form 

Responsibility of Recipient:

• Submit a written report of the project and it's results, opportunities, challenges, unintended consequences, and how the results will be implemented to the Director of Assessment. The deadline for the report is January 15, 2013. Report will be posted on the Office of Assessment web site.
• Present the awarded proposal during the annual assessment conference on March 28, 2012.
• Present the final written report of the work in 2013 at the annual assessment conference.

Contact:

Submit one copy of the application or direct questions to Suleiman Ashur (260-481-5411), Director of Assessment, via email assessment@ipfw.edu by December 1, 2011.

Awards

The IPFW Assessment Council will be collecting nominations for the second IPFW Assessment Celebration to be held sometime next spring 2012. During this time, assessment activities by departments and by faculty members will be highlighted.

We will also present two assessment awards that day. The first award will be to an individual faculty member or to a group of faculty members based on assessment work done on a single course or a group of closely related courses. The assessment council will determine the recipient(s) of this award from among those nominated for it. The award will be $750, to be used for assessment related professional development. All faculty members are eligible. Please consider nominating yourself for this award. The deadline for submitting the nomination will be announced..

The second award will be to a department that has done exemplary work in assessing its programs. The recipient of this award will be determined by the assessment council, and the selection will be based on the January 2012 annual assessment reports. The award will be $1000 to be used by the department on assessment related professional development.

Please click on this link to submit an award nomination.

If you have any questions, please contact Steve Sarratore, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs.

Highlights of first annual IPFW Assessment Celebration