GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY GRANTS
Academic Information Technology Advisory Committee (ACITAC)
IST Governance Education Services Committee
Background and History
The AcITAC, also known as the IST Governance Education Services Committee, is composed of representatives of all schools at UMDNJ plus Central Administration. One of its purposes is to encourage the use of information technology to advance education and research at UMDNJ..
AcITAC has been awarding grants since 1996 to faculty for the development and use of instructional technology in academic programs throughout the University. Information on previously funded projects can be found at http://mediacenter.umdnj.edu/minigrants/index.html .
The maximum that can be requested is $20,000; all project principal investigators must be full-time UMDNJ faculty members..
Types of Projects Encouraged
Proposals must reflect the instructional technology priorities of the school(s) they represent; the applications must be reviewed, endorsed and signed by the respective Academic Dean. Projects that are inter-school and/or also serve the missions of the University (research, outreach, community service, etc.) are given special attention.
Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate imaginative and innovative uses of educational technology in one or more areas such as:
- Faculty and student development
- Course design
- Curriculum
- Teaching methods
- Delivery of course content
- Access to materials/learning opportunities normally inaccessible to students
Proposals that merely replicate current educational practices may not be funded unless a reasoned argument clearly justifies the anticipated outcomes.
Successful proposals will:
- define the need for the project
- extrapolate its applicability to the larger University community
- set quantifiable objectives
- describe anticipated outcomes
- describe or design those mechanisms and/or tools which will measure them
- determine what is needed to accomplish these ends
- identify the activities and resources necessary for implementation
Uses of the Grant Money Awarded
Grant requestors are asked to provide a budget narrative with justification and itemization of anticipated expenses.
Funding may be used for:
- Instructional design expenses*
- Computer programming costs**
- Product beta-testing and revision with targeted populations
- Faculty training
- Work-study students/assistants
- Software to implement educational change
- Required hardware upgrades, system enhancement and/or peripherals necessary to project completion
Some hardware, such as high-end scanners and digitizers will be purchased centrally for shared use by funded projects. All hardware purchased through this grant is the property of UMDNJ and may be re-allocated by AcITAC for future projects.
* Designated Academic Computing Services staff will provide general guidance with instructional design.
** UMDNJ policy requires all computer programming associated with instructional design to be done in-house except in those circumstances where the project is beyond the scope of in-house resources.
Excluded expenses:
- Travel funds
- Salary for the principal investigator or other full-time UMDNJ faculty members or staff
- Furniture and office supplies
Requirements of Grant Recipients
Timetable
Projects must be completed within one year of the date the grant
is funded.
Reports
During the grant period, a mid-year written
review assessing project progress must be submitted to the grant administrator.
A Final Narrative Report with assessment of outcomes and a Financial Report must be furnished by the grant recipient to the grant administrator within 90 days following the expiration date of the grants. The Final Narrative Report must give details of:
- activities
- products produced
- conclusions draw
- estimation of the degree to which project goals were achieved
- explanation of how funds were utilized to achieve project objectives
- statement as to whether the project has helped in securing additional support funds
- how a future generation of the project might be handled
- presentations and/or publications regarding the project and its outcomes
The Principal Investigator and/or grant associates who publish academic papers about the grant funded project are requested to submit a copy of the publication to the grant administrator with the Final Narrative Report or as soon as possible thereafter.
Products
All print, web, video, and audio materials related to the grant project
or program must identify and credit the educational technology grant program
for its support, with the citation: This project was supported by
an Educational Technology Minigrant awarded by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and funded by the Foundation of
UMDNJ
Copies and/or electronic access to all materials arising from these grants must be provided to Laura Barrett, the Chair of the Educational Technology Review Committee. She may, in turn, provide access to these materials to all UMDNJ faculty requesting same.
All work funded under this program must be conducted in keeping with the policy of the University regarding patents, copyrights and materials transfer. Applicants should consult the following University Web sites for current copies and information regarding these policies:
http://www.umdnj.edu/oppmweb/Policies/HTML/LegalServ/00-01-90-45_00.html
http://www.umdnj.edu/oppmweb/Policies/HTML/AcademicAff/00-01-20-21_00.html
http://www.umdnj.edu/oppmweb/Policies/HTML/LegalServ/00-01-90-45_05.html
Promotion & Publicity
Publicizing the products of the grant project to others within and beyond the University community, in order to enhance their impact, is important to the granting agency (the Foundation of UMDNJ). Grant recipients are strongly encouraged to demonstrate their projects at appropriate conferences, workshops and symposia, both within and outside UMDNJ.
Grantees should also pursue opportunities to publish reports of their results in both internal and external publications. Such reports should include acknowledgement of the support from the granting agency, with the following citation: " This project was supported by an Educational Technology Minigrant funded by the Foundation of UMDNJ." Information regarding these presentations and publications should be forwarded to Laura Barrett (at barrett@umdnj.edu), Chair of the Educational Technology Minigrant Review Committee, for inclusion in annual reports to the Foundation.
The grant recipients' project descriptions and contact information will be posted on the Educational Technology Minigrant Web site so that faculty interested in pursuing similar projects may contact them for information and advice.