WIC Department Development Grants

The WIC Program will fund several Department Development Grants this year. The maximum award per grant will be $2500. Requests that include options for matching funds are preferred, and requests for less-than-maximum amounts may be given preference. Three types of grants are available, and all three encourage the participation of WIC seminar alums. Departments which involve WIC seminar alums in the proposed grant activity will have a competitive advantage for receiving funds, as will proposals that involve curriculum planning for including writing throughout the major. Proposals are due in the WIC office by March 1st.

These grants are designed to foster the goals of writing across the curriculum (WAC), in general, and of OSU's writing-intensive curriculum (WIC), in particular. Therefore, the criterion on which proposals will be evaluated is the extent to which the proposed activity will further integrate writing into the curriculum of OSU students. Three kinds of grants are available, but applications need not conform to only one type; feel free to overlap categories if necessary. Though awarded to a department as a whole, the grants are meant to particularly benefit those faculty who are actively involved in discussions of teaching with writing and who teach WIC courses, possible WIC courses, or other courses using writing activities. Multiple proposals from the same department are acceptable and will be reviewed equally; however, there will be an attempt to fund as many departments as possible. Proposals should be two to three pages in length and should be sent directly to the WIC Program office, Waldo 125. Please call Vicki Tolar Burton, 7-3711, for additional information and discussion.

Stage One Grants—Development within a Department
Purpose: To support faculty within a department who are interested in developing new courses and teaching practices or in modifying current courses and teaching practices to include more teaching-with-writing techniques. These grants also support faculty development events and research projects focused on writing.

Stage One proposals should specify the following items:

Activity: Describe the proposed activity (issues to be discussed, problems to be addressed) which the requested funds would facilitate. While some activities may primarily involve an individual, it is assumed that there will also be some level of departmental discussion. For example, funds might be used for: organizing departmental retreats, workshops, or discussions; buying faculty release time.

Schedule: Specify the time line anticipated for completing the activity, achieving the results, and submitting a brief report.

Personnel: Identify participating faculty, particularly the WIC seminar alums who are involved in the activity.

Budget: Project how the money will be used.

Results: Identify anticipated results in terms of a starting point and an ending point. Where is your department now in terms of WIC or WAC, and where do you hope it will be at the conclusion of the funded activity? In other words, specify not only what is being built but also the foundation upon which the department is building.

Report: While a brief report will be expected, there will not be a uniform deadline this year for those reports. Please set a report deadline in accordance with the schedule you propose.

Stage Two Grants—Development among Departments
Purpose and Activity: To support cooperative writing curriculum development and teaching-with-writing activities among departments and across disciplines. For example, funds might be used to support: mentoring groups; activities regarding interdisciplinary writing such as legal writing, scientific writing, writing and environmental studies, writing and ethics, etc.

Stage Two proposals should specify the activity, schedule, personnel, budget, results, and report information as described above, making the obvious descriptive adjustments needed to address activity amongst and between departments and not simply within a department.

Stage Three Grants—Seeking Outside Funding
Purpose and Activity: To provide seed money which will help departments apply for more substantial funding for WIC/WAC activities from sources outside the university.

Stage Three proposals should identify the schedule, personnel, budget, results, and report not only for the fund-raising activity supported directly by the WIC grant but also for the activity which would be supported by the outside funds if the proposed fund-raising is successful.

Awarded WIC Development Grants