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Program Requirements

GRANT TYPE — Proposals may be for projects by individual faculty or interdisciplinary teams of faculty.

AREA OF EMPHASIS — Select at least one of the emphasis areas below for your proposal. In your proposal make sure you address all selected emphasis areas.  To ensure the proposal meets the grant criteria, be certain to provide strong justification for why it meets the emphasis area(s), clearly defining any terms you use in the justification is essential. 

*Note: All team proposals must emphasize interdisciplinarity, but may also include one or more other emphasis area(s).

  • Developing innovative and creative teaching and learning components. 
    • Proposals in this area of emphasis must focus on creativity. Creativity is the development of original ideas that have value. Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas in practical application. Innovative teaching components are original pedagogical approaches and tools grounded in evidence-based high-impact practices. Creative learning components facilitate development of creative mindsets, creative environments, creative processes, and creative cognition. (e.g., engaging students in creative projects, having students use the design thinking process to create solutions to authentic problems, new active learning approaches; developing games; new types of supplemental support; novel use or development of open educational resources; novel use of high impact practices including, but not limited to, service learning, project-based learning, or a scholarly research experience).
  • Engaging in a meaningful interdisciplinary* approach 
    • Proposals in this area of emphasis must be collaboratively designed to emphasize and integrate different disciplines (e.g., theoretical frameworks and methodologies), leading to the creation of something new or ‘breakthrough((s)’ in complex or societal problems that can only be achieved because of the disciplines’ boundary-crossing. (e.g., course redesign to serve academic pathways (meta-majors); activity that aligns with existing interdisciplinary research; course on interdisciplinarity. *Note, all team proposals must emphasize interdisciplinarity and include faculty participation from distinct disciplines, most likely from different units. Texas A&M University faculty are invited to collaborate with Prairie View A&M University faculty when appropriate and to achieve interdisciplinary goals. 
  • Implementing a pedagogical approach grounded on diversity, equity, and inclusion
    • Proposals in this area of emphasis must focus on the implementation of equitable pedagogical approaches that value and support all students’ learning by acknowledging and valuing their diverse identities, abilities, learning preferences, experiences, beliefs, perspectives, and contexts. Successful proposals will demonstrate how an instructor’s approaches and methods help create inclusive learning environments that promote academic excellence where all students feel equally welcomed and empowered to participate fully in the learning process. (e.g., incorporation of Universal Design for Learning principles; research and scholarship on inclusive pedagogy, trauma-informed pedagogy, critical pedagogy, liberatory pedagogy, restorative justice pedagogy, engaged pedagogy, and culturally responsive pedagogy among others; use of service learning or other educational experiences that encourage dialogue among different populations; creation of accessible resources, development of a cultural awareness and competency component for courses in disciplines that have historically ignored this dimension).
  • Making important contributions to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
    • Proposals in this area of emphasis must generate empirical knowledge that has implications that exceed the scope of improving the faculty’s discipline-specific course(s) by producing meaningful contributions to the extant literature regarding high-impact pedagogies. SoTL research projects generally focus on the design of learning experiences and facilitation of learning activities. (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research on pedagogical interventions; dissemination of SoTL research at regional and national conferences; publication of SoTL research in edited volumes, books, or journals, especially those that are open source)

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION — All proposals must be submitted through the PTTG website. Faculty are allowed to be a part of only one proposal (individual or team). Project leads are the owner of the proposal. Faculty may start a proposal and be the lead. If a faculty member is serving as lead on a started proposal they will NOT be allowed to be added as a team member on another proposal. If faculty are added as a member to a team proposal, it will display on the website and they will be able to confirm or decline their association with the proposal.

Proposal submissions to include:

  • Proposal Name
  • Activity Type— Indicate whether or not the proposal includes a new course, existing course, or other (non-course related). If relevant, enter the course subject, course number, and course title affected. Submissions proposing the creation of a new course require a memo of department approval.
  • Grant Type— Individual or Team
  • Student Level— Undergraduate, Graduate, or Both
  • Emphasis Area— Select at least one emphasis area for your proposal. All team proposals must emphasize interdisciplinarity, but may also include another emphasis. Emphasis areas are: Interdisciplinarity, Diversity and Inclusion, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and Creativity and Innovation.
  • Project Narrative — (5,000 character limit) Provide a proposal description pitched toward a general audience. Make sure proposal description elaborates about the chosen emphasis.
  • Outcome Statement— (5,000 character limit) Include both measurable outcomes (learning outcomes and any other expected impacts) and a description of how they will be assessed. (Do the outcome statement 
  • Continuation Plan— (5,000 character limit) Explain how the outcomes of the proposal will be sustained beyond the funding period.

OUTCOMES STATEMENT — The proposal clearly identifies intended outcomes and impacts of the project, including specific student learning outcomes, if applicable, and provides a brief description of the measures to be used to assess these outcomes.

CONTINUATION PLAN — The proposal explicitly addresses a plan for how activities or changes will be sustained including the funding period.

INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS —Team proposals must emphasize interdisciplinarity and include faculty participation from distinct disciplines, most likely from different units. Proposals in this area of emphasis must be collaboratively designed to emphasize and integrate different disciplines (e.g., theoretical frameworks and methodologies), leading to the creation of something new or ‘breakthrough(s)’ in complex or societal problems that can only be achieved because of the disciplines’ boundary-crossing. Prairie View A&M University faculty are welcome to collaborate on proposals led by TAMU faculty. Both Texas A&M University and Prairie View A&M University faculty are encouraged to utilize the Profiles and Interests pages of the PTTG website.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION SUITABILITY — PTTG proposal aligns with the Aggie Core Values.

ALLOWABLE EXPENSES — Allowable expenses for these funds include: summer salary for faculty, so long as the faculty salary is not funded otherwise; graduate student support to assist with proposal activities; proposal associated supplies and equipment; teaching related professional development.

PROFILES — Texas A&M faculty member profiles are added to the PTTG website.  Faculty profiles include name, title/rank, college, department, and email. Faculty members will be able to add their photo, discipline, teaching responsibilities, teaching philosophy, and keywords. Profiles are searchable by colleagues.

INTERESTS — Faculty may post teaching interests they have. This allows for dialog among faculty across Texas A&M University, as well as Prairie View A&M University. It may also result in collaboration on team proposals. Interests are searchable and also can be hidden or favorited onto a watchlist.

GRANT FUNDING — The PTTG program will invest $1,000,000 per year for eight years. Each year, twenty individual grants at $20,000 and ten team grants of $60,000 will be funded. Each grant is for two years and during the two-year funded grant, participation in additional proposals by that faculty member is precluded. Selection of proposals will be semi-random wherein undergraduate teaching and graduate teaching projects will be funded proportionally to the population served (75% UG and 25% GR), and, so long as there is sufficient diversity among submitted proposals, awards of each type of proposal (individual or team) will not exceed three per college. Funding start date is expected to be week of January 11, 2021. To incentivize collaboration with Prairie View A&M University, team proposals including PVAMU faculty will be favored by the algorithm.

TRANSFORMATIONAL TEACHING AND LEARNING CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION — Funded PTTG proposals must create an infographic illustrating a well elaborated proposal plan for display during a gallery exhibition at the Transformational Teaching and Learning Conference in 2021 (precise time TBD).

FINAL REPORT — At the conclusion of the two-year project, faculty are to submit a final report via a standardized form.