PRACTICAL SKILLS INITIATIVE FACULTY GRANT
The University’s strategic plan, “Rooted. Restless.” includes an initiative focused on expanding offerings for students to foster practical skills for life, designed to help them succeed holistically, in alignment with our Augustinian Catholic mission.
This initiative extends support for students beyond a singular focus on career pathways and build a library of high-quality content and resources to assist them in navigating life after graduation, both professionally and personally. These new offerings will ultimately cover topics such as digital literacy, health and well-being, emotional intelligence, financial wellness, media literacy, negotiation, project management, and resilience, among others.
The Practical Skills Content Development Grant provides funding for faculty from across the University to develop content to be included in this future library supporting student learning around practical skills.
CONTENT AREAS
We are seeking faculty who are enthusiastic about helping our students enhance their practical skills and who would like to partner to develop creative and engaging content to broaden our offerings in support of this strategic plan initiative.
We seek proposals for practical skills education that align to one of three themes. All content must be delivered asynchronously. Any assessments must be evaluated without direct faculty feedback.
- Personal Development & Well-Being: Topics may include but are not limited to financial wellness, emotional intelligence, and resilience.
- Interpersonal & Communication Skills: Topics may include but are not limited to negotiation, media literacy, giving & receiving feedback, coaching skills, networking skills, and leadership development.
- Professional and Technical Skills Topics may include but are not limited to digital literacy, project management, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurial thinking.
ELIGIBILITY & APPLICATION PROCESS
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 2025 Deadline TBD
The Practical Skills Content Development Grant is open to full-time faculty with at least one full year of service at the University.
“Content” could include videos, interactive learning activities, simulations, branching scenarios, and games.
At minimum, all proposed submissions must include the following:
- A One-minute video introduction by the faculty member
- Three learning objectives for the content
- At least one assessment to evaluate learning
Depending on the amount and quality of proposed content and corresponding assessments to be developed, faculty will receive an award of $2,500 to $7,500. The design work must be completed during the Summer of 2024. Team-taught proposals are eligible for this grant program; the award will be evenly split between the awardees.
Examples of project scale and the corresponding awards are below. These are only guidelines, however; faculty are encouraged to be creative, and awards may be adjusted by the reviewing committee based on the scope of the proposal.
| Award | Content Parameters | Assessment Parameters |
|---|---|---|
| $2500 | 3-5 learning modules of 10 minutes or less each | Objective assessments for each learning module (multiple choice; True/False; Fill in the Blank). |
| $5000 | 6-9 learning modules of 10 minutes or less each | Objective assessments for each learning module (multiple choice; True/False; Fill in the Blank). |
| $7500 | 10-12 learning modules of 10 minutes or less each | Objective assessments for each learning module (multiple choice; True/False; Fill in the Blank) and/or creation of interactive learning objectives, games, or higher-level creative assessments. |
Proposals should be submitted electronically (as .pdf attachments), sent to the CPS Dean’s Office via email. Proposals in their entirety should not exceed three pages. Please also submit an updated CV.
Please include:
- A title and description for the project, including 1-2 paragraphs describing the specific targeted practical skills and target audience of students.
- A 1-2 paragraph discussion of why these practical skills are important for Villanovans after graduation. Proposals including relevant data and examples showing the importance of the skills to be developed are strongly encouraged.
- A two-page outline for the proposed content to be developed, including draft learning objectives and brief descriptions of all assessments.
- A description of how the budget will be used (for example, faculty stipend, materials, student worker support).
- A letter indicating support of your department chair and/or program director.
Proposals will be reviewed using the attached rubric by a committee consisting of:
- Tyra Ford, Director, Professional & Personal Development
- Kevin Grubb, Associate Vice Provost, Professional Development & Chief Career Officer
- Christine Palus, CPS Dean
- Pete Watkins, CPS Director of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
- Subject Matter Experts
Faculty are encouraged to contact any evaluation committee members if they have questions about this opportunity.
Awards will be announced within one month of the application deadline. Approximately 2-4 grants will be awarded. All content must be delivered by TBD.