Grants and training are now available for faculty and staff to redesign courses or sponsor co-curricular or extracurricular programming that advances our Experience Learning initiative.
Meanwhile, the first 16 courses are now being reviewed for Experience Learning designation in the fall 2017 course catalog.
Funding support
Faculty development grants are now available for faculty members who want to redesign courses to fit the guidelines and assessment processes of Experience Learning. Grants are also available to support qualifying faculty, staff, or student initiatives that provide co-curricular or extracurricular activities and projects.
More details about the grant programs can be found on the Experience Learning website. Grant application forms will be available on the website from February 1 to March 1.
Course designations
Applications were received last semester from faculty seeking Experience Learning designations for their courses that include research or service-learning activities.
Six courses are seeking an R (research) designation and include components such as field-based work and reflection. Ten courses have been submitted for an S (service-learning) designation and include elements that require community engagement and challenge students to solve real-world problems in the community.
Having received subcommittee approval, the course designations must now be approved by the full Curriculum Committee, the Undergraduate Council, and the Faculty Senate, following a review process similar to that of other general education courses. Once their course designations are approved, faculty teaching the courses will receive Experience Learning grants for implementation.
The next round of course designation applications will be due October 15.
A detailed explanation of the R designation and the course proposal form are available on the Office of Undergraduate Research website. A detailed explanation of the S designation and the course proposal form are available on the Office of Service-Learning website. Only existing courses may be submitted for review, and they must already have formal support at both the department and college level.
Proposals should be sent to Molly Sullivan, coordinator for curriculum and catalog, by email at msulli27@utk.edu.
Training opportunities
Two training opportunities for faculty interested in applying for Experience Learning course designations are taking place this spring:
- The Office of Service-Learning and the Teaching and Learning Center will co-sponsor a two-hour workshop on the S course designation. The workshop will be offered from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, and from 2:10 to 4:10 p.m. on Thursday, February 9, in the Fred Brown Residence Hall.
- The Office of Undergraduate Research and the Teaching and Learning Center will co-sponsor a two-hour workshop on the R course designation from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29, and from 9:40 to 11:40 a.m. on Thursday, March 30, in the Fred Brown Residence Hall.
For more information on these workshops, see the Teaching and Learning Center website.
Resource guides
To request a print or PDF copy of the Experience Learning resource guide, email Experience Learning Director Chris Lavan at clavan@utk.edu.