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Faculty Fellowships and Grants

Dean’s Faculty Fellows

The Dean's Faculty Fellows (DFF) Program supports tenure-track faculty in their research, scholarship, and creative expression during their probationary period. Fellows are selected by a committee from among many highly competitive nominations because of their scholarly accomplishments and the promise they show to make an impact in their respective fields. They hold the title for two years and receive additional support for their research. See the current and past cohorts of fellows.

Nominations

The nomination process opens in December each year.

DFFs hold the title for two years and receive $15,000 yearly to support their work. Funds do not carry over from year to year. Funds may be used for research activities, subject to the A&S policy for research funds, and also for one course buyout per year of the fellowship. A course buyout will be charged at the rate of $15,000 for the purposes of this program. If the fellowship coincides with a semester of earned leave, fellows are strongly encouraged to use their two course buyouts in a single year to provide an additional semester of paid leave and create a full year of paid leave. Faculty members may not be nominated during their tenure year, as only assistant professors are eligible to hold a DFF title. If promoted to associate professor during the appointment period, the term will continue but will not be renewable.

Department chairs and/or deans will nominate candidates. Faculty members may not nominate themselves or participate in the nomination. The call for nominations will be issued each fall from the Dean’s Office.

Please direct all questions to Vice Dean Bonnie Dow.

Internal Grants

The Dean’s Office is pleased to offer the A&S Internal Grants Program as a way to support full-time faculty in their research, teaching, and service. Grants are available in several categories, listed below. Grant applications will be submitted through REDCap; upon logging in, applicants will be prompted to choose the grant for which they wish to apply.

All questions about internal grants should be directed to Assistant Dean Angela Sutton.

Professional Development Grants

Professional Development Grants (PDGs) fund professional development opportunities for full-time, continuing-track faculty of all ranks in the college. For online courses and certifications, please see the university's policy and apply for reimbursement via this form.

  • Details

    PDGs are available in the following categories:

    • Professional Travel Grants: These grants may be used to fund domestic travel (up to $1,500) or international travel (up to $2,000) to academic conferences or other travel related to the faculty member’s designated responsibilities. Proposals for Professional Travel Grants will require endorsement by the faculty member’s chair or director. Faculty members are not eligible for more than one Professional Travel Grant (one trip) per academic year. These grants have a rolling deadline and must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the proposed date of travel.
    • Professional Expenses Grants: These grants may be awarded for amounts up to $500 and may be used for professional expenses such as the purchase of specialized course materials or teaching equipment (e.g., books, software, some hardware other than computers). For more costly items, faculty should consider the Provost’s Rapid Advancement Micro-Grant Program (RAMP). Professional Expenses Grants may be used to cost share the expense of equipment to which the faculty member’s department or program will also contribute. Faculty members are not eligible for more than one Professional Expenses Grant per academic year. These grants have a rolling deadline; requests may be submitted at any time.

    Eligibility

    • Professional Development Grant funds are for full-time, continuing-track, instructional faculty members with multi-year appointments in the College of Arts & Science. Visiting faculty are not eligible.
    • Priority will be given to those who do not have access to their own professional development funds.
    • Faculty members who do have access to their own professional development funds may apply for a grant when their own funds are exhausted or to cost share an expense that outstrips their available funds.

    Applications

    Approval process

    • The chair or director will be prompted to approve the application via REDCap after the materials are submitted. It is strongly recommend that the faculty member have a prior discussion with their chair or director before submitting a grant application.
    • The award will be processed as a single payment, inclusive of applicable taxes, concurrent with the faculty member's next scheduled payroll disbursement.

    Applicants should expect a response to their proposal within a month. Please direct all questions to Assistant Dean Angela Sutton.

Curricular Enhancement Grants

The College of Arts & Science offers Curricular Enhancement Grants (CEGs), a dedicated funding stream to support expenses for undergraduate educational experiences developed by A&S faculty members. CEGs are open to all full-time, tenured, tenure-track, and continuing-track faculty with multi-year appointments in the college.

  • Details

    Overview

    CEGs provide funding for faculty-led curricular experiences that enhance undergraduate education through the development and deployment of innovative and/or immersive pedagogy. These grants are competitive, and proposals selected for funding will prioritize innovative experiences that amplify and enhance course content inside and/or outside of the classroom. CEG proposals emphasizing immersive experiences are especially welcome, as are proposals linked to Exploratory Core courses.

    These grants may be used to cover, for example, the cost of materials for student projects, the planning and execution of special events, honoraria for guest speakers, and/or faculty-led student visits to off-campus venues (e.g., exhibitions, locations of note, events). They may NOT be used to pay compensation for faculty or students, for computer hardware, or for annual expenses that could be covered by departmental funding.

    Details

    • Faculty must apply for a CEG two months prior to the planned expenditure and the funds must be spent during the relevant semester. Unspent funds at the end of the semester will be returned to the college to support additional experiences.
    • CEG grant amounts will vary, but funding requested should not exceed $2,500. Smaller grants are encouraged.
    • CEG proposals may be developed by one faculty member or a team of faculty members, but one faculty member must be designated as the lead and must submit the proposal.
    • Faculty members should have a discussion with their chair or director before submitting a grant application.
    • Please upload all application materials (details below) to the REDCap form.
    • After the materials are submitted, the applicant’s chair or director will be prompted to approve the application via REDCap.

     

    Application

    The proposal should be NO MORE than one page, and should include the following:

    • A title and brief description of the experience being proposed.
    • The faculty member(s) proposing to lead the experience (collaboration among faculty members is encouraged).
    • The course(s) which this experience will serve, and the number of students involved.
    • A brief explanation of how the funds will enhance student experience and help fulfill the learning goals of the class.
    • An estimated date of when the experience will take place.
    • A budget narrative describing the categories of expenses expected to be incurred and the total amount requested. Please remember to include transportation costs, if applicable.

    Awards

    Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Applicants should expect a response to their proposal within one month. All funding disbursement will be handled by the lead faculty member’s SAO. Please work with the SAO to access awarded funds.

    Please direct all questions to Assistant Dean Angela Sutton.

Course Development Summer Salary Grants

These $5,000 grants can be used to fund summer effort toward revising a current course that requires updating or developing of a new course important to the curriculum of a department or program.

  • Details

    Details

    • Proposals for Course Development Summer Salary Grants will require endorsement by the faculty member’s chair or director, including affirmation of the importance of the proposed course development to the department or program curriculum.
    • Faculty members are not eligible for more than one course development grant every three academic years.
    • The application process for Course Development Summer Salary Grants opens in January each year and closes at 4 p.m. on the Friday before Spring Break.

    Eligibility

    • Course Development Summer Salary Grants are for full-time, continuing-track, instructional faculty members with multi-year appointments in the College of Arts & Science. Visiting faculty are not eligible.

    Applications 

    • All materials must be uploaded to REDCap in PDF format.
    • Applications should consist of a CV and two-page proposal outlining the course description, student learning outcomes, and rationale for revising/developing the course at this time.
    • Applicants are strongly encouraged to have a prior discussion with their chair or director before submitting a grant application.

    Approval process

    • The chair or director will be prompted to approve the application via REDCap after the materials are submitted.
    • Applications will be accepted from January until 4 p.m. on the Friday before Spring Break. Faculty members should expect a response within one month of the deadline.
    • All funding disbursement will be treated like a supplemental salary during the Summer I or Summer II session of each academic year. Faculty members awarded a grant for a summer session will be ineligible to teach during that summer session.

    Please direct all questions to Assistant Dean Angela Sutton.

Publication Subvention Grants

The College of Arts & Science offers a small, dedicated funding stream for grants to support publication subvention and/or specific costs associated with publication permissions. The grants should not be the funding source of first resort for subvention and/or permissions costs; faculty applying for funds will be required to pursue other sources of funding. A&S subvention grants should not exceed $3,000.

  • Details

    Eligibility

    Eligible faculty include tenured, tenure-track, and continuing-track faculty for whom research, scholarship, and/or creative expression are included as one of their job responsibilities. Faculty members are not eligible for multiple subvention grants in a 3-year period.

    Subventions will not be considered for the costs of Open Access Publishing. If you are interested in open publishing models for your work, please consult the VU Library’s Research Guide to Open Access Publishing.

    Application

    • All materials must be uploaded as a .doc or .docx to REDCap.
    • The faculty member’s chair or director will be prompted through REDCap to approve the request.
    • Subvention requests must be submitted before the final manuscript goes to press.
    • Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Approved subvention expenses will be reimbursed to the faculty member, who will be required to submit an invoice or receipt.
    • Subventions will be considered for costs associated with the publication or production of:
      • Scholarly books
      • Art catalogues and collections for which the applicant is the artist or senior editor
      • Non-print media such as electronic books or the production of a film/video
      • Literary works such as a collection of poems, a play, or a screen play
    • If the work is not published, the author is expected to return the subvention grant to A&S.

    Cost sharing requirement

    Faculty members should make every effort to obtain funds for subvention and/or permissions costs from a variety of sources before requesting a subvention. Potential sources include:

    • The faculty member’s research funds
    • The faculty member’s department funds
    • Grants available through the press for the project

    Some of these potential sources of funding work on established deadlines; thus, faculty members who know that they will require subvention and/or permissions costs funding should explore these options as soon as they learn of their needs for subvention and/or permissions funding.

    Applicants should expect a response to their proposal within two weeks to a month. Please direct all questions to Assistant Dean Angela Sutton.

Dean’s Research Studios

Dean’s Research Studio (DRS) grants are designed to support the professional development of full-time faculty in the College of Arts and Science. DRS grants are offered to tenured and tenure-track faculty who have not reached terminal rank, and Collaborative Humanities Postdoctoral Fellows and Mellon Assistant Professors. The guidelines for each differ and are detailed below.

  • Details

    DRS grants provide opportunities for faculty members to receive additional mentoring on their research and creative expression at a critical time in their careers, when feedback from an external expert on a book manuscript, creative project, and/or grant proposal provides maximum benefit. A Dean’s Research Studio grant can expand a faculty member’s professional network as well as advance their research, scholarship, and creative expression.

    DRS funding is guaranteed to all tenure-track faculty, Collaborative Humanities Postdoctoral Fellows, and Mellon Assistant Professors who submit an appropriate application. Funding is not guaranteed for tenured faculty, but we hope to be able to fund several DRS’s for associate professors each year. Full professors are not eligible for a DRS.

    Applicants should expect a response to their proposal within two weeks to a month. Please direct all questions to Assistant Dean Angela Sutton.

  • Eligibility and Process for Tenure-Stream Faculty
    • Awardees are eligible for up to $5,000 to cover the costs of each DRS; these funds may be used to fund travel, honoraria, and related expenses for external experts to come to Vanderbilt.
    • Tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply for a DRS beginning in their second year on the tenure track and remain eligible to apply through the fifth year on the tenure track. A faculty member may be awarded only one DRS during the probationary period.
    • Tenured associate professors are eligible to apply at any point that they can make a case for the value of the DRS in their progress toward promotion to full professor. Funding is not guaranteed for tenured faculty, but we hope to be able to fund several DRSs for associates each year. A tenured associate professor may not be awarded more than one DRS. Full professors are not eligible to apply for a DRS.
    • Applications should include a current CV and a one-page proposal describing how the DRS would be used, including indicating scholars that might be invited to participate in the DRS. A DRS proposal should be built around a specific set of goals related to a specific project.
    • Applications will be submitted through REDCap. The deadline to apply for a Spring DRS will be the Friday of Fall Break each year, and the deadline to apply for a Fall DRS will be the Friday before Spring Break each year. Successful applicants will be notified within a month of applying. The funds awarded must be spent within the time frame of the awarded DRS. Approval from the chair/director is required; they will be prompted by REDCap to enter their approval.

    Best practice guidelines for tenure-stream faculty

    The Dean’s Office recommends that, to foster the best Research Studio experience for the faculty member in your unit, department chairs/program directors appoint a senior faculty member (a full or associate professor, depending on the rank of the awardee) to oversee the process.

    The recommendations below may not entirely work for all units—we recognize that norms may differ by division. Nevertheless, a DRS is an investment in the professional development of the awardee, an investment shared by the Dean’s Office and the department/program. The DRS is also an opportunity to enhance the reputation of the department with external scholars. Given those elements, these recommendations are designed to create the most professional and productive experience possible for the awardee. They emphasize taking the burden of the arrangements for the Research Studio away from the awardee, so that their time for preparation is not taxed and so that they may have the most useful experience possible.

    We recommend:

    • That the senior faculty member work with the DRS awardee to identify the external scholar(s) for the Research Studio. The senior faculty member would also reach out to the external scholar(s) to invite them, explain the expectations/honoraria, identify workable dates, and then connect them with the staff member who will make travel arrangements or handle reimbursement.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with the awardee, identify colleagues within the Vanderbilt community to invite to participate in the Research Studio. Depending on the size of the unit, opening the studio to the entire faculty may not be productive. For example, past awardees have noted that it is most helpful when colleagues commit to being present for the entire discussion, rather than coming and going more freely.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with the awardee, arrange for the requisite materials for discussion to be sent to the external scholar(s), typically at least one month in advance of the workshop.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with the awardee, create the schedule for the visit, arranging for meetings with the awardee, meals and meal companions, an additional talk to the department if that is desired/feasible, airport transport, etc.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with the chair/director and staff, makes sure that the paperwork is completed to provide the honorarium and travel reimbursement to the external scholar(s). Honoraria for in-person attendance should be limited to $1,000. For scholars serving in a virtual capacity, it should be limited to $500.
    • That the senior faculty member designate someone to synthesize the major discussion points at the end of the workshop, providing the awardee with a set of recommendations for how to move forward.
    • That the senior faculty member and/or the chair/director meet with the awardee following the Research Studio to gather feedback and draw conclusions about the path forward. Past awardees have noted that setting reasonable deadlines and a timeline for completing the work after the studio can be helpful.
  • Eligibility and Process for CHPs and MAPs
    • Collaborative Humanities Postdoctoral Fellows and Mellon Assistant Professors are eligible to apply for a DRS at any point during their tenure at Vanderbilt, to be decided in consultation with their department chair/program director.
    • Applications should include a current CV and a one-page proposal describing how the DRS would be used, including a short list of scholars (with affiliations) that might be invited to participate in the DRS. A DRS proposal should be built around a specific set of goals related to a specific project.
    • Applications will be submitted through REDCap. The deadline to apply for a DRS is rolling; however, applicants are advised to apply several months in advance of the planned DRS. The funds awarded must be spent within the time frame of the awarded DRS. Approval from the department chair/program director is required; they will be prompted by REDCap to enter their approval.

    Best practice guidelines for CHPS and MAPS

    The Dean’s Office recommends that, to foster the best Research Studio experience for Collaborative Humanities Postdoctoral (CHP) Fellows or Mellon Assistant Professors (MAP) in your unit, that department chairs/program directors appoint a senior faculty member (a full or associate professor) to oversee the process.

    The recommendations below may not entirely work for all units—we recognize that norms may differ by division. Nevertheless, a DRS is an investment in the professional development of the awardee, an investment shared by the Dean’s Office and the department/program. They are designed to provide additional research mentoring when feedback on a book manuscript or equivalent provides the maximum benefit. They are also an opportunity to enhance the reputation of the department and help grow the scholarly networks of the participants. Given those elements, these recommendations are designed to create the most professional and productive experience possible for the awardee. They emphasize taking the burden of the arrangements for the Research Studio away from the awardee, so that their time for preparation is not taxed and so that they may have the most useful experience possible.

    Guidelines:

    • Research Studios for CHPs and MAPs are held in-person on campus with one external scholar attending virtually.
    • Each DRS is led by a committee of three scholars who will read the manuscript and offer sustained critique: a senior faculty member at Vanderbilt (this member will ideally be a research mentor already familiar with the work of the CHP/MAP) who convenes the committee, an external expert in the subfield (this member will ideally be a leading thinker in the subfield who is well-positioned to offer guidance about the best ways this work can contribute to the field), and a peer who works adjacent to or outside of the awardee’s field of study (this member can be another CHP/MAP or other junior scholar at Vanderbilt).
    • A typical DRS lasts around two hours, though some benefit from longer discussions.
    • Colleagues may be invited at the discretion of the awardee and are asked to arrive in a timely manner, stay for the duration of the DRS, and hold questions and comments until the end.
    • Budget: Each DRS award pays for the honorarium of one outside expert, plus refreshments for all attendees. Honoraria for scholars serving in a virtual capacity are limited to $500.

    Additionally, we recommend:

    • That the senior faculty member work with the DRS awardee to identify the external scholar for the Research Studio. The senior faculty member would also reach out to the external scholar to invite them, explain the expectations/honoraria, identify workable dates, and then connect them with the staff member who will handle payment of the honorarium.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with the awardee, identify colleagues within the Vanderbilt community to invite to participate in the Research Studio.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with the awardee, arrange for the requisite materials for discussion to be sent to the external scholar and other attendees, typically at least one month in advance of the workshop.
    • That the senior faculty member, working with staff, ensure a suitable room is booked, that arrangements for the external member to attend virtually have been made, that suitable refreshments are available, and that the paperwork is completed to provide the honorarium to the external scholar.
    • That the senior faculty member designate a note-taker and/or someone to synthesize the major discussion points at the end of the workshop, providing the awardee with a set of recommendations for how to move forward.
    • That the senior faculty member and/or the chair/director meet with the awardee following the Research Studio to gather feedback and draw conclusions about the path forward. Past awardees have noted that setting reasonable deadlines and a timeline for completing the work after the studio can be helpful.

Conference Hosting Support

College of Arts and Science faculty members wishing to host conferences at Vanderbilt may request financial support from the Dean's Office, including modest seed funding to help cover conference costs, if discretionary departmental funds (e.g. gifts and endowments) are not available, sufficient, or appropriate. To apply for funds, complete the REDCap survey.

Applicants should expect a response to their proposal within two weeks to a month. Please direct all questions to Senior Associate Dean John McLean.

Faculty and Graduate Student Awards

Awards

Each year, the College of Arts and Science recognizes faculty and graduate students for excellence in teaching and mentoring.

Faculty and Graduate Student Awards