Internal Grants

CFRD Released Time
The Center for Faculty Excellence seeks to further the mission and goals of Ithaca College by supporting the professional development of its full-time, continuing faculty. It does this by providing released time for faculty to pursue pedagogical, research (including collaborative student/faculty research), and creative projects; to engage in outreach ("service") activities that engage the faculty member's professional training and talents; and to write grant proposals that will be submitted to external sources for additional funding. The role of CFRD funds is to support worthwhile endeavors that might otherwise go unfunded. Proposals for released time submitted for a CFRD grant must (a) be consistent with the mission and goals of Ithaca College; (b) contribute or have the potential to contribute significantly to the professional development of the faculty member submitting the proposal; and (c) enhance or lead to the enhancement of the intellectual life, scholarly discourse, and/or learning environment of the college. Proposals that contribute to the current initiatives of Ithaca College will receive priority consideration. We are also seeking proposals that involve released time for more than one person – for example, interdisciplinary proposals from faculty in two or more departments or schools, departmental projects undertaken by more than one faculty member, and so forth. In these cases, please be sure that the amount of released time requested is justified by the nature of the work proposed.

The Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) sends out a Request for Proposals for released time as well as a proposal form in the early fall of each academic year. Faculty proposals in the areas outlined above (research/creative endeavors; pedagogical projects; outreach/service activity; grant-writing efforts), should be routed through department chairs and deans to the CFE, and should be no more than two single-spaced pages. Proposals must clearly explain the project or activity that is being undertaken as well as its purposes and goals and how they are consistent with the Center's objectives. They should be written in clear language that is comprehensible by a non-specialist reviewer and should avoid technical or dense professional vocabulary. Proposals should clearly link the proposed project with the professional development of the faculty member. Projects are limited to three credit/load hours. Like other faculty development support programs, proposals will be evaluated competitively on their merits. Recipients will be required to submit a report to the CFE at the conclusion of the year. Failure to do so may affect future funding.
Click here to continue with the process for submitting a CFRD proposal.


Instructional Development Fund: Direct Course Enhancement
The main objective of this fund is to improve qualitatively the content and/or methods of instruction in existing or proposed courses at Ithaca College. The fund intends to encourage faculty members to respond to specific academic needs at this institution by refining or updating teaching skills, cultivating expertise, or developing innovative instructional materials and resources that contribute to an improved and more current curriculum.
Click here to continue with the process for submitting an IDF: Direct Course Enhancement proposal. 


Instructional Development Fund: Diversity/International Projects
Students benefit when their teachers are enthusiastic about exploring new ideas and are actively engaged in broadening their knowledge. As the faculty are enriched, so ultimately are the students’ educational experiences. In addition to grants for course improvement focused on curriculum development and pedagogical experiments, IDF grants also encourage and support projects that are interdisciplinary in content. Interdisciplinary projects have as their goal the renewal of faculty members as liberal learners and/or the development of interdisciplinary partnerships. Although immediate curricular impact is not necessary, it is expected that ground work for future team-taught courses and/or other interdisciplinary interactions between faculty members will result. Please note that the program is not intended for use by faculty members in their quest for advanced degrees.
Click here to continue with the process for submitting an IDF: Diversity/International Funding proposal.


Summer Research Grants
Proposals may be submitted by full-time continuing Ithaca College faculty members and by faculty regularly employed on at least a half-time basis. No individual may receive a Summer Research Grant in consecutive summers. (Center for Educational Technology Summer Fellowships are considered the equivalent of the Summer Research Grants: they may not be received consecutively with each other.) Proposals for projects involving human subjects must have been reviewed and approved by the All-College Review Board for Human Subjects Research prior to submission.

Because of the full-time commitment required by this program, awardees will be limited in their ability to participate in other summer programs that are paid. Consult the For Faculty web site for details.

Further, it is expected that awardees will not participate in other professional activities or programs that detract from this full-time endeavor. Failure to observe this regulation will result in withdrawal of the award.
Click here to continue with the process for submitting a Summer Grant for Faculty Research.



Internal grant opportunities administered by the Office of the Provost include Academic Project Grants, Grants for Creative, Collaborative, and Community Service and/or Service Learning Projects, and Academic Challenge Funding.