Lecturers' Professional Development Grants

Lecturers' Professional Development Grants acknowledge the many contributions of RIT’s lecturers, senior lecturers, and principal lecturers, providing funding for professional development activities that involve teaching, development, and/or creative endeavors. Examples of appropriate expenditures include participation/presentation at conferences, national professional meetings, pedagogical programs, or travel required to access resources at other institutions. Lecturers, senior lecturers, or principal lecturers may apply for grants up to $2,000 and must meet all eligibility requirements as listed below.

1. All full-time principal lecturers, senior lecturers, or lecturers with continuing appointment in Academic Affairs at RIT are eligible to apply, to be verified by the department head.
    
2. Priority will be given to full-time lecturers, senior lecturers, or principal lecturers who have not received a Lecturers’ Professional Development grant in the past.
    
3. Lecturers who have not completed previously awarded grant-funded projects or have not submitted an “Outcome Report” for a prior grant will not be eligible for a new grant-funded activity. 
    
4. Faculty may not submit more than one grant application per academic year.
    
5. Hospitality requests should not exceed 10% of total budget.
    
6. Funding for software/hardware acquisition or other equipment, professional membership fees or licensure, certification, festival/screening fees, tuition, add-pay, faculty stipends, course release, or additional faculty salaries will not be considered.

• Call for Grant Proposals: Week of September 23, 2024 
• Grant Proposals Due: Friday, November 1, 2024, 11:59 pm. Late applications will not be considered.
• Funding Decisions Announced: Early December 2024. Grants may not be applied retroactively to activities participated in prior to the award.
• Final Grant Outcome Report Due: 30 days after completion of grant-funded project

1. Review the sample application below prior to preparing your application. We strongly recommend that you complete the application in a Word document, then copy/paste into the Qualtrics form.
> Sample Application
> Online Application (Qualtrics)

2. Have your department head complete and sign the Department Head Verification Form (download file below). Grant applications without this form included as part of the application will not be considered.
Step 1: Download form.
Step 2: Prepare the form in its entirety.
Step 3: Submit to your department head for approval/signature.
Step 4: You or the department head should then email the completed/signed form to FCDS@rit.edu when you submit your application online via Qualtrics.

Proposals will be reviewed by a faculty selection committee, and recipients will be notified approximately December 1. If you are awarded a grant, you will receive instructions for accessing funds and reporting on the use of your grant in your award letter.

Grant recipients are asked to help disseminate their results by completing an Outcome Report (online) following the project completion. In this report, you will share the impact of this grant on your professional development, your teaching, and future success in your field.