2007-2008 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (PDF)
FOR UC BERKELEY/UC SAN FRANCISCO LECTURERS

Applications are now being requested for the 2007-2008 round of PDF grant funding.

The Professional Development Fund Pool is open to all Unit 18 non-Senate faculty (lecturers and other instructors covered by the Unit 18 contract) with teaching appointments on the UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco campuses in summer 2007, fall 2007 and/or spring 2008. Grants of from $500 to $8000 are available for teaching, research, and scholarship.

Please note the following dates in your calendar:

Thursday, February 28, 2008, 5:30-7:30 pm. You are invited to attend a reception for the 2007 PDF grant winners in the Ethnic Studies Library in Stephens Hall at UC Berkeley. We encourage new applicants to come and talk to committee members and former grant winners about the program.

Monday, March 17, 2008, 4 pm. Applications are due. (No late applications or materials will be accepted for any reason; mailed applications must be received by the due date.)

Monday, April 28, 2008. Awards will be announced by this date.

Please submit all application materials (the original and 6 copies) to:

Professional Development Committee
c/o Patti Owen
127 California Hall #1502
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720

Criteria for Grants

Grants will be awarded for proposals including but not limited to:

--travel expenses related to teaching, research, or other scholarly endeavors,

--seminar/workshop/conference/studio attendance fees,

--academic training (for example, taking courses related to teaching responsibilities at UCB or UCSF),

-- research expenses,

--software and hardware for use in research and/or teaching (including in special cases the purchase of books, films, or software in preparation for teaching assignments) which remain University property, and

--course relief. (Only continuing appointees may apply for course relief and the cost should include benefits.)

The Committee also welcomes collaborative proposals, including but not limited to projects linked to courses taught by more than one instructor, shared research endeavors, and collaborative presentations. It is the committee’s hope to encourage creative project proposals and to distribute awards broadly within the university community. Therefore preference will given to applicants who have not received large awards in the last two years. Proposals requiring staff support salaries or course relief should be reviewed in advance with the Academic Personnel Office (APO).

Grants may range from approximately $500 to $8,000, depending on the nature and scope of the proposals. Larger grants are designed to fund projects that are wider in scope, requiring more extensive funding, as well as more extensive research and travel. Smaller grants are designed to fund projects and scholarly endeavors or requisitions more limited in scope.
The committee is not able to fund

--projects aimed primarily at supporting student work or creating new opportunities for students;

--projects that cannot demonstrate an ultimate beneficial impact on pedagogy and/or the educational mission of the University;

--projects that mainly benefit or involve institutions other than UCB/UCSF (e.g., covering tuition fees for a one year professional degree course at Oxford University);

--projects that seek funding for the production or promotion of publications (e.g., covering the costs for printing a book or reader, holding a reading in a bookstore in Chicago, etc.);

--technical support materials that could be funded by other campus resources;
incomplete or late submissions.

The Application Process

Applicants should submit 7 hard copies (an original and 6 copies) of the following items:

1) A one to two-page letter of application, including

The specific purpose of the funding and the amount requested;
The time frame in which this funding will be used;
The relevance of this proposal to the applicant's own scholarly and pedagogical development as it applies to the applicant's role as a Unit 18 NSF at UCB.

2) Letters of support are not required but may be provided by the applicant and will be considered in the application review process. Such letters should come from department chairs, colleagues, and/or peers outside UC Berkeley/UC San Francisco. Applications for course relief must include a letter from the department chair or program director stating their willingness to support the terms of the course relief grant. If a project requires any other form of support from departments, research centers, or other sources, letters with evidence of such support must be provided.

3) A budget breakdown consistent with University policies (see http://travel.berkeley.edu), including other sources of funding that you anticipate. If course relief is proposed, the budget must also cover all relevant benefits costs.

The budget should be based on a realistic estimate of projected costs at the time of purchase, not on sale prices that may no longer be available by the time the purchase is made. Once awarded, a grant cannot be increased to cover a discrepancy between the estimated and actual cost of the project. Purchases for equipment should include sales tax in the budget.

4) An updated curriculum vitae, including applicant's campus address, email address, and a phone number where the applicant may be reached. The curriculum vitae should state whether the applicant has a continuing appointment under the contract, and should include a brief summary of courses taught and developed at UC Berkeley or UC San Francisco.

5) A copy of the completed checklist form and cover sheet (click here or see attachment below).

Awards

The Committee reserves the right to offer partial or more substantial funding of requests in accord with its annual allotment of funds. Announcement of awards will be made no later than April 28, 2008. Awards will cover professional development activities undertaken between April 15, 2008 and April 15, 2009. Should the available funds allow, activities undertaken prior to April 15, 2008, may also be considered for funding.

Reporting

The University requires documentation of all expenditures before reimbursement. Grant recipients should be careful to save receipts and present them for reimbursement to the Academic Personnel Office, along with the appropriate forms (which will be provided) and a one-page report on the project.

The deadline for submitting all documentation for reimbursement is fiscal closing (June 30) of the academic year for which the grant is awarded:

Monday, June 30, 2008, for projects completed in spring 2008;

Tuesday, June 30, 2009, for projects completed in summer 2008 or academic year 2008-2009.
Grant recipients must provide one original and 2 copies of documentation of the project funded for the records of the Academic Personnel Office and the PDF Committee. The documentation must include a one-page follow-up report that documents the contribution of the project to the educational mission of the University. No reimbursement will be processed until all materials, including the one-page follow-up report, have been submitted to the APO office.

As PDF Committee members are ineligible for award consideration, it is hoped that award recipients will volunteer for committee service in the year following their award.

Questions

If you have questions, please contact the PDF committee chair, Marshall Foletta, at marshall.foletta@sbcglobal.net.