by Amy Strage, CFD

1. Internal grants. As we announced last week, the Provost has reaffirmed her commitment to supporting research and scholarship on our campus, and her office is funding RSCA and Undergraduate Research Grants once again.  All tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply.   We are also delighted to announce funding, through the Provost’s office, for Innovations in Teaching-Course Re-Design grants.  All instructional faculty (lecturers as well as tenured/tenure-track faculty) are eligible to apply. Application procedures and forms all of these programs are available on the Internal Grants section of the CFD website.  Deadlines to apply for these grants are as follows:   RSCA grants: April 2^nd;  Innovations in Teaching – Course Re-design grants: April 12^th; Undergraduate Research grants:  April 22^nd.

2.  Collegial conversations and showcases. Our next Tea and Talk hour (Wednesday, March 20^th, 3-4pm, in IRC 101) will feature two colleagues from the College of Education – Professors Colette Rabin and Grinell Smith.  Their topic, “Modern Education: A Tragedy of the Commons” , should be of interest to us all.  They will explore the idea that current accountability practices exploit students in a way that opens the door for a pernicious set of predictable outcomes, known collectively as ‘tragedies of the commons.  I hope you can join us, as we discuss their work and strive to articulate more positive trajectories.

Another not-to-be-missed event is the screening of a film entitled “Just a Piece of Cloth” produced and directed by Professor Rosemary Henze, from our Linguistics and Language Development department.  In this documentary, Bay Area Muslim women share their stories about wearing (or not wearing) hijab.  We hope you will be able to join Rosemary on Tuesday, April 2^nd, from 6:30-8:00pm, in MLK Jr.  Library 225/229.

3.  Support for student writing.  we are delighted to invite you to a working lunch, on Tuesday, April 16^th, from 12-1, in Engineering 285/287, to explore the possibilities of the Criterion on-line writing tool. At this luncheon event, you will have the chance to talk informally with colleagues who are using Criterion in their courses now, and to hear first hand what they find most useful – to them and to their students. The Center for Faculty Development is interested in identifying additional faculty who are willing to test the efficacy of this writing tool by implementing and then assessing whether or not the tool assists students and professors in improving student writing. To that end, the CFD will provide $300 in professional development funds to faculty who incorporate the tool into their teaching and who are willing to assess, evaluate and share the outcomes with the campus community. Please indicate whether you will be able to join us by clicking on the RSVP link.

4. Grant writing support:  Please join Professor Marc D’Alarcao, from our own College of Science, at the next session of the SJSU Research Foundation spring 2013 series.  The topic will be “Proposal Review Sessions Revealed” – Wednesday, April 17^th, 11:30-1:00, in MLK Jr. Library, 225/229. You may reserve lunch if you rsvp to nancy.riley@sjsu.edu by April 10^th.

5.  The next Writing Marathon is coming up soon – April 18, 19 and 22^nd (Thursday, Friday and Monday).  Please submit your application by April 12^th.  Marathoners are welcome for one, two or all three days.