University Fund for Cross-School Inquiry and Learning

The University Fund for Cross-School Inquiry and Learning promotes efforts to develop academic initiatives or programs that stimulate teaching and scholarship in alignment with Wake Forest University’s Strategic Framework.

Up to $15,000 will be awarded to each project, which may have a duration of up to 24 months. Funded projects should submit a report to the Associate Provost of Faculty Affairs within 60 days of the end date describing the activities, accomplishments, ongoing, and future impacts of the project to Wake Forest University and, if relevant, external communities.

Successful proposals will:

• Align with the university’s strategic framework by enhancing the core identity of WFU (i.e., Who We Are and Who We Will Become), realizing our vision (i.e., the embodiment of Pro Humanitate), or focusing on one of the areas of excellence as identified in the strategic framework (i.e., Aim 2.2),
• Embrace the teacher-scholar ideal. The proposal should include components related to research, scholarship, or creative activity in addition to curricular activities. The scholarship could be pure, applied, or pedagogical/andragogical. Curricular activities should support classroom or experiential learning activities, consistent with the aims associated with establishing a community of lifelong learners, and
• Engage in interdisciplinary efforts by involving faculty and staff from at least two different schools.

Preferred proposals will:

• Result in a sustainable activity or endeavor at Wake Forest University, and 
• For each school that is represented within the proposal, include at least one full-time faculty member from the school as a project team leader. Staff may be involved in the project as participants or team leaders.

Application Instructions

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. 

Format: 12-point font, 1” margins, single-spaced.

Submission: Submit a single pdf document – combining all the application components below – via email to petters@wfu.edu using the subject line: University Fund for Cross-School Inquiry and Learning Proposal.

Components:

• Cover page: project title, list of project team leaders with affiliations, and an executive summary or abstract (50 words or less).
• Project description (up to 4 pages): The project description should include:
  • The need/intellectual foundation for the proposed project
  • The teaching and scholarly objectives for the proposed project
  • An explanation of how the objectives are relevant to the strategic framework
  • The importance or role of interdisciplinary collaboration for the project
  • A plan to execute the project objectives (e.g., research methods, pedagogical approaches, creative processes)
  • The intended impacts of the project on teaching or scholarship for the duration of the project and after the project is completed.
  • Criteria or processes for evaluating the impact or effectiveness of the project

Figures, tables, and other graphics may be included to enhance clarity. If IRB approval is needed for the project, please provide the IRB number or state the intention to request IRB approval before the start of the project.

• References/citations: Excluded from the project description page limit.
• Project budget: Please use the following, or a similar, format for the budget.

BUDGET ITEM	JUSTIFICATION	MONTH/YEAR OF EXPENSE	AMOUNT
1.
2.
3.
TOTAL BUDGET REQUEST

• Budget Notes
  • Examples of uses of funds include research supplies and services, technical assistance, publication expenses, equipment, student support, attending or hosting conferences/workshops/charettes, artistic productions, or travel between campuses, including parking fees.
  • Faculty stipends are not encouraged as an expense but are permissible if sufficiently justified.
  • Matching funds are not required for this funding program, but if resources are being contributed from other sources to support this project, such as a department or another grant, please identify the source of these funds.

• Project timeline: Please use the following, or similar, format for the timeline.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES	FALL 2024	SPRING 2025	SUMMER 2025	FALL 2025	SPRING 2026
1.	X	X
2.			X
3.			X	X
4.				X	X
5.					X

• Biographical sketch: 2-page CV or biosketch for each project team leader or member.
• Other funding: Brief description of internal and/or external awards received (if any) within the past four years and their outcomes.
• Letter of support: Each College/School represented by a team leader on the proposal must have a letter of support from the Dean (or a Dean designee).

Evaluation Process

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis. Decisions on proposals will generally be made within four to six weeks.

Each proposal will be evaluated by the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs in consultation with the Vice Provost for Research, Scholarly Inquiry, and Creative Activity and the Assistant Provost and Executive Director for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching. The committee composition may be altered if there is a conflict of interest or if additional expertise is needed to evaluate the proposal.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria

• Consistency with the goals of the program
  • Interdisciplinary project involving faculty (or faculty and staff) within two or more schools 
  • Embraces and forwards the teacher-scholar ideal
  • Alignment with the WFU strategic framework
• Intellectual and curricular merit
  • Contribution to scholarship, creative activity, and/or pedagogy
  • Feasibility of the project
• Impact
  • Nature of the scholarly and pedagogical impact on the academic and curricular communities at Wake Forest
  • Depth of impact on one or more specific academic or campus communities 
  • Breadth of impact on one or more academic or campus communities
  • Ability to make a lasting impact on the Wake Forest community (i.e., sustainability)