Hub Course Development Stipends

(This funding opportunity is currently not available.)

Context:

The BU Hub is Boston University’s first University-wide academic program, not only in the sense that it is required of all undergraduate students but also in that its successful enactment is predicated on enlisting the full range of BU’s scholarly expertise, curricular creativity, and contextual advantages (e.g., Boston) in the education of individual undergraduates. The Hub’s integrated vision of general education offers opportunities for faculty and staff to develop new courses and cocurricular learning experiences across disciplines, across schools and colleges, between the liberal arts and the professions, among the Charles River, Medical, and Fenway campuses, between academic affairs and student affairs, between BU and Boston communities, and between sites abroad and at home.

Hub Course Development Stipends will be awarded, on the basis of a simple application, to individual faculty members, pairs of faculty, and faculty teams who commit to developing and teaching substantially revised and new courses that address learning outcomes for one or more Hub areas. Special consideration will be given to interdisciplinary courses, both team-taught and solo, that develop more than one Hub area.

Types of Stipended Initiatives:

Stipends are available through participation in the following Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) opportunities:

  • CTL-sponsored one-day workshops (or formal CTL Hub consultations*) for substantial course revision ($1,000)
  • Three-day revision workshops (or formal CTL Hub consultations*) that focus on the Hub area of Digital/Multimedia Expression ($2,000)
  • Four-day new** course development institutes (or formal CTL Hub consultations*) which bring together faculty from around the university in productive conversation with each other ($3,000)
  • While consultation with the CTL is recommended, it is not required to request funding for Hub Course Development Stipends for new Hub courses. New** Hub courses that are developed outside of a CTL workshop or formal consultation* are stipended at $1,000.

See the CTL BU Hub page for descriptions of these workshops and institutes. In addition, stipends are available for other means of course development proposed by individual faculty, groups or pairs of faculty, departments, and schools/colleges. Email ctl@bu.edu or visit this link to explore and, if desired, schedule such customized course development activities.

*A formal CTL Hub consultation typically involves 3-5 meetings / check-ins with CTL staff.

** New courses are defined as any course that has never been taught before.

Stipend Eligibility and Payment Options:

All faculty are eligible for stipends. Programs/Departments must commit to teaching the course at least three times in the next 4 years. Faculty are encouraged to discuss their proposed course with their department/program chair or director.

Hub Course Development Stipends are available as the following options:

  • A one-time taxable stipend.
  • A one-time Research Fund contribution to be spent within the fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) for which the award is made. (In cases where approval occurs late in a given fiscal year, awardees may prefer to postpone receipt of research funding to the following fiscal year).

When faculty participate as part of a team jointly revising a course or designing a new course, each faculty member receives the stipend.

Applications must be reviewed and signed by the faculty member’s department/program chair or director, AND school/college Dean before submission to the Center for Teaching & Learning for approval. Applications must be submitted on behalf of the faculty member, group, or team, by their school/college Dean’s Office.

Applications will be approved on a rolling basis. Once the course has been submitted to the University Council General Education Committee (GEC) through the Hub course approval process by the faculty member’s school or college, payment of the stipend will be authorized. The stipend is not contingent upon a course’s acceptance into the Hub; however, when necessary, it is expected that faculty will revise and resubmit their course proposal to the GEC until it is approved.

Application Process Step-by-Step:

  1. The Faculty member sends completed application and signed cover sheet to academic unit head or chair for review.
  2. The Department/academic program chair/director reviews the application, signs it, and sends it to the school/college Dean’s Office.
  3. The Dean’s Office reviews the application, signs it, and sends it to the Center for Teaching & Learning (ctl@bu.edu) with “Faculty Name — Hub Stipend Application” in the subject line.
  4. The CTL acknowledges receipt of the application in an email to the faculty member, with department/academic program chair/director and Dean’s Office cc’d.
  5. Within 21 days of the course’s submission to the University Council General Education Committee, the CTL will authorize payment of the stipend. Payment will be administered through the faculty member’s school/college Business Office. Please contact your school/college Business Office with questions regarding the payment.

The Center for Teaching & Learning continues to provide extensive support of various kinds for faculty initiatives in Hub new course development, revision of current courses for inclusion in the Hub, and in pedagogical and teaching support. For additional information, visit the CTL Hub page. For dates for our new open office hours, visit the CTL event page.

For additional questions, please contact ctl@bu.edu.