Faculty Development Support Funds (FDSF)

Faculty Develop Support Funds (FDSF) applications for 2025-2026 academic year are now open.

The Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) provides the Faculty Development Support Fund (FDSF) for requests that will demonstrably improve one’s teaching, pedagogy, and professional development. These funds may be used for

1. travel to conferences at which the faculty member is not presenting; OR is presenting at a teaching focused conference on the topic of teaching in their field;
2. training, workshops, and certifications;
3. vital supplies and equipment that cannot be obtained through existing channels; or
4. other kinds of pedagogical and professional development.

Fund Limitations

1. Each faculty member is limited to two FDSF grants per academic year.
2. Faculty may receive no more than $1200 in FDSF support per academic year.
3. For FDSF travel grants to fund conference attendance, faculty may only apply for those at which they will not be presenting or are presenting on teaching in their field (otherwise, faculty should apply to the Faculty Scholarly Support Fund).
4. For all travel, domestic and international, FDSF grants will pay for a maximum of three nights of lodging and four days of meals.
5. FDSF monies cannot be used to purchase computers, tablets, or other hardware that should be paid for by department or college budgets—no budget line requests.
6. FDSF grants will be limited to proposals that cannot be funded via other sources.
   1. Examples:
      • Department travel funds
      • If you are presenting scholarly research, please apply for FSSF funding before applying for FDSF.
      • If your position (salary) is grant funded, you should use grant funds before applying for FDSF.

Funding Priorities

1. Proposals that clearly demonstrate how the funds will be used to improve faculty as teachers and their contributions to SUU—both pedagogical (emphasis on students) and professional (emphasis on peers).
2. Proposals with strong chair and departmental support as demonstrated by at least 25% matching funds.
3. Proposals from non-tenured and junior faculty.
4. Proposals for unique, essential supplies, software, and equipment (see “Fund Limitations” #6 above)

Proposal Requirements

1. Applying faculty must first read and understand this set of limitations, instructions, and guidelines.
2. The faculty member must then fill out an electronic copy of the FDSF Proposal, including
   1. an exact and detailed description of how the conference, travel, or other funding request will directly improve the faculty member’s teaching or benefit the faculty member in his/her pedagogy, professional development, and/or ability to serve students;
   2. department chair comments, demonstration of support, amounts of matching funds, and required “electronic” signature (applying chairs must have dean comments and support);
   3. a budget breakdown explaining each cost and emphasizing the source(s) of other funds, and
   4. a detailed description of new teaching strategies acquired through the funding opportunity will be disseminated to the larger campus community, such as a presentation at a department or college meeting, or presenting at a campus Learning & Development event.

Deadlines

Other Guidelines

1. In the case of multiple grant requests or multiple faculty members, separate proposals must be submitted for each.
2. Grant proposals must be submitted by the posted deadlines or they will not be considered; incomplete proposals will also be rejected.
3. Retroactive travel and other expenses will not be considered.
4. The awarding of grant funds is viewed as a contract between the faculty member and the FDSF committee; any deviation from the proposed use of funds requires committee approval.

Submission Instructions

1. Make a copy of the template (button link below) and save it to your Google Drive.
2. Complete all sections of the application coded as FACULTY.
3. Share the Google Document with your department chair. Instruct them to complete the section coded as DEPT CHAIR. If you are applying for FDSF as a department chair, have your dean complete the DEPT CHAIR section.
4. When the application is complete, share the document link with CTI Faculty Fellow robbmccollum@suu.edu and ctiadmin@suu.edu prior to one of the dates above.

Committee Review Process

1. Members of the CTI Faculty Working Group will review and rate each of the required categories in the application.
   1. Items rated will be numbers 1-6 on the application template.
      1. Percent of matching funds (priority for 25% or more matching funds)
      2. Faculty rank (priority for junior faculty)
      3. Nature of request (priority for teaching development, including conferences, training, and equipment)
      4. Potential Impact on student learning
      5. Persuasive justification for funding
      6. Level of administrative (dept chair) support
      7. Explanation of how funding will support teaching development
   2. Ratings will be on a 1-5 Likert scale, for a total of 30 points.
   3. Higher rated applications will be given priority. Lower rated applications may not be considered for full funding.

FDSF Application Template

Faculty Scholarly Support Fund (FSSF)

Other funding may be available through the FSSF. Please reach out to your individual college with questions or how to apply for these funds.