Funding Opportunities

The New School is committed to the professional development of its part-time faculty's teaching practices. The Part-Time Faculty Professional Development Fund supports faculty who wish to pursue local and international professional development opportunities that promote pedagogical and curricular advancement, innovative and inclusive classroom strategies and practices, and the development of knowledge and skills related to instructional growth and content expertise.

Award Amount

The university allocates $100,000 per academic year to part-time faculty through the Professional Development Fund; $50,000 is allocated for each fall and spring application cycle. Part-time faculty may request up to $1,500 in their application for funding.

Use of Funds

Examples of the types of activities the fund supports include but are not restricted to:

• Attendance at workshops or courses focused on exploring new approaches to teaching and learning, including inclusive and equitable teaching practices
• Attendance at workshops or courses focused on skills development to advance and broaden teaching knowledge and skills related to one’s professional field or areas of instructional growth and content expertise
• Professional conferences promoting development in one's professional field or area of instruction
• Professional conferences where a faculty member will participate as, for example, a discussant, a panel chair, or a presenter
• Research that is related to one’s professional field or that contributes to content in current course assignments
• Creative or scholarly projects related to one’s field of instruction
• Exhibition development related to one's professional field or content in current course assignments
• Materials and related tools or software purchase (but not licensure) that contribute to a creative or scholarly project in one’s professional field or related to content in current course assignments
• Books, webinars, sheet music, scripts, concert/theater tickets, etc. that help faculty remain current in the field in which they teach
• Transportation costs (airfare, taxi, train, car rental and related expenses) of up to $1,000 per application

Examples of requests that are not considered for professional development funds include:

• Assignments for work outside the university
• Compensation for the applicant
• Compensation to support hiring or pay for individuals (such as freelance fees for service)
• Acquisition of space (through leasing, rental, etc)
• Equipment that has uses beyond the duration of the funded event or activity (computers, cameras, printers, etc.) and/or represents a business expense
• Certification related to professional licensure or standing
• Funding for classroom activities or supplies

Eligibility

• Applicants must be members of ACT-LOCAL 7902.
• Applicants must have completed at least two semesters of teaching at The New School or have one year of service as part-time faculty at the time when this application closes to be eligible to receive professional development funds.
• Probationary and post-probationary faculty must have received an appointment letter for the current academic year (fall 2024/spring 2025) at the time when this application closes to be eligible to receive funds. Faculty who may be ineligible in the fall cycle may apply in spring for prospective or retroactive funding if they have an appointment letter.
• Annual, multi-year, and grandparented faculty may apply for funding even if they are on a paid or unpaid leave of absence
• Faculty who received funding through this fund in the prior fiscal year (July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024) or during the current fiscal year (July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025) are not eligible to receive funding for the spring 2025 cycle.

Application Process

Applicants must complete the application form and include a detailed budget summary for consideration. For additional resources, please visit the Part-time Faculty Professional Development Fund microsite.

Timeline

• Spring 2025 Application Opens: November 27, 2024
• Spring 2025 Application Deadline: February 9, 2025
• Spring 2025 Awards Announcement: March 5, 2025
• Earliest start date for FY24/25 funded projects: on or after July 1, 2024
• Completion date for FY24/25 funded projects: on or before June 30, 2025

For questions, please email [email protected].

The intent of the part-time faculty development fund is to support activities that nurture: 

• Professional development opportunities that support pedagogical and curricular advancement;
• innovative and inclusive classroom strategies and practices
• The development of knowledge and skills related to one’s professional field and in areas of instructional growth and content expertise
• Creative and scholarly projects related to one’s field of instruction that contribute to one’s teaching

Award Amount

The university allocates $4,000 per academic year to part-time faculty through the Professional Development Fund; $2,000 is allocated for each fall and spring application cycle. The amount awarded an applicant is capped at $500, including travel, lodging, and materials as applicable.

Use of Funds

Types of activities that the fund may support:

• Attendance at workshops or courses focused on exploring new approaches to teaching and learning, including inclusive and equitable teaching practices
• Attendance at workshops or courses focused on development aimed at advancing and broadening teaching knowledge and skills related to one’s professional field or areas of instructional growth and content expertise
• Professional conferences promoting development in one's professional field or area of instruction
• Professional conferences where a faculty member will participate as, for example, a discussant, a panel chair, or a presenter
• Research that is related to one’s professional field or that contributes to content in current course assignments
• Creative or scholarly projects related to one’s fiel of instruction
• Exhibition development related to one's professional field or content in current course assignments
• Materials and related tools or software purchase (but not licensure) that contribute to a creative or specific scholarly project in one’s professional field or related to content in current course assignments 
• Books, webinars, sheet music, scripts, concert/theater tickets, etc. that help faculty remain current in the field in which they teach.
• Transportation (airfare, taxi, train, car rental and related expenses, etc.)

 Examples of requests that are not considered for professional development funds include:

• Assignments for work outside the university
• Compensation for the applicant
• Compensation to support hiring or pay for individuals (through freelance fees for service, etc.)
• Materials related to teaching courses
• Equipment that has uses beyond the duration of the funded event or activity (computers, cameras, printers, musical instruments or accessories, recording equipment, etc.) and/or represents a business expense
• Funding to support hiring or pay for individuals
• Acquisition of space (through leasing, rental, etc.)
• Certification related to professional licensure or standing
• Meals

Eligibility

• Faculty must be members of AFM Local 802.
• Probationary faculty must have completed at least two semesters of teaching appointments or at least one year of service as a part-time faculty and have received an appointment letter for either or both the fall and the spring semesters of the current academic year (fall 2024/spring 2025).
• Post-probationary faculty must have received an appointment letter for either or both semesters in the current academic year (fall 2024/spring 2025). 
• Annual, multi-year, and grandparented faculty are eligible to apply even if they are on paid or unpaid leave of absence.
• Professional Development Fund recipients must be part-time faculty members at The New School at the time funds are awarded.
• Faculty who receive(d) professional development funding in fall 2024 are not eligible to receive funds in the spring 2025 cycle.

Application Process

Applicants must complete the application form and include a detailed budget summary for consideration. For additional resources, please visit the Part-Time Faculty Professional Development Fund microsite.

Timeline

• Spring 2025 application opens: November 27, 2024, with a priority deadline of Sunday, February 9, 2025. Applications that meet the eligibility criteria may be considered on a rolling basis following the priority deadline, depending on the availability of funds.
• Earliest start date for FY 2024–2025 funded projects: July 1, 2024
• Completion date for FY 2024–2025 funded projects: by June 30, 2025

For questions, please email [email protected].

The Faculty Research Fund (FRF) provides support for faculty in their work as researchers, scholars, and creative practitioners. It awards grants for developing or implementing a research project, a professional practice, or a creative project that requires travel, equipment and supplies, dissemination, and other project-related expenses. Grants are awarded on the basis of available resources each year. Selections are made at the recommendation of a faculty committee representing a range of fields and expertise.

Program Priorities
In the 2024–2025 cycle, priority consideration will be given to:

• Projects developed by junior members of the faculty that provide opportunities for research careers (junior faculty include probationary, tenure-track, and EE-track faculty and RTAs in their first or second term at The New School)

• Projects for which external funding is planned and for which FRF funds can serve as seed money and/or a matching grant

In addition, the FRF welcomes:

• Collaborative and interdisciplinary proposals from teams of two or more faculty members from different fields, departments, or schools of The New School

• Projects that relate or speak to themes or topics identified in the university’s mission and vision statement, as outlined in its strategic plan

Projects can begin no earlier than July 1, 2024, and must be completed by June 30, 2025; all expenses must be made within this one-year period.

Award Amounts
Award amounts are determined on the basis of the project budget, the number of awards made, and the availability of funds.

• Grants of up to $7,000 will be awarded for proposals from one or two principal investigators or project directors.
• Grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded for proposals from three or more principal investigators or project directors.

Recommended grantees may not receive the full requested amount. A clear and detailed project budget is strongly recommended.

Award Requirements
If you are awarded an FRF grant, you will be required to:

• Conduct your project in accordance with all relevant research compliance and institutional, state, and federal policies
• Have clear outcomes or deliverables
• Submit a final outcomes report within 90 days of the end of the grant period

Awardees may be asked to present their work at the end of the grant period or participate in future faculty development workshops.

All grant recipients are expected to meet within 180 days after the end of the grant period and discuss the possibility of developing and submitting at least one proposal for external funding through The New School. It is understandable that some projects may not lead to an external proposal, but it is strongly recommended that awardees work toward that goal after their FRF award ends. The Office of Research Support can provide a list of potential external funding opportunities, RFPs, and submission deadlines, as well as help with any pre-award support for external proposal preparation, grant writing, budget building, and proposal review and submission.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact [email protected].

Eligibility
This funding program is open to principal members of the full-time faculty, including those faculty with the following full-time appointments: tenure, tenure track, extended employment, extended employment track, and renewable term appointment. The program is also open to part-time faculty who are covered by the Local 7902 contract with post-probationary, annual, multi-year, or grandparented status and part-time faculty who are covered by the Local 802 contract with a minimum of four semesters of classroom appointments. Parsons Paris full-time faculty are also eligible.

Visiting faculty, faculty in the final year of a fixed-term contract, postdoctoral fellows, and university administrators are ineligible to apply for funding.

Eligible Projects
Applications to develop or implement a research project, a professional practice, or a creative project that requires travel, training, or other forms of support are eligible for FRF grants. See the full list of previously funded projects below to get a sense of those proposals that have received funding.

Funds are available for individual and for collaborative faculty projects; interdisciplinary proposals from teams of two or more faculty members from different fields, departments, or colleges at The New School are particularly encouraged. The FRF also continues to give priority to proposals from junior faculty and proposals for which external funding is planned or expected. For proposals involving more than one faculty member, at least one of the project investigators must have experience or a track record (demonstrated in the narrative and CV) in obtaining external research or project funding.

What kinds of projects are ineligible?

• Course development, public programs or events, conference attendance, or publishers’ subventions for already completed projects
• University center and institute projects that already receive core funding from internal sources
• Projects that have already received support from the FRF grant program

Additionally, an applicant may only be the lead project investigator on one application to the FRF annually. Other core faculty listed in a proposal can be listed as part of the team for a separate collaborative proposal, however.

Application Process
Access the application form and fill in all required information. Once the form is completed, please submit your application by 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, March 8, 2024.

A group of finalists is selected after an initial review of applications received. The finalists may be asked for more detailed information about their projects. For applications submitted by teams of faculty, one person must be identified as the principal contact person.

A blank copy of the FRF application form can be found here.

Application Checklist

• Completed application form
• Each applicant's CV
• References (at least one reference must be submitted with your application)

Timeline

• Application deadline: Friday, March 8, 2024
• Awards announced: week of May 13, 2024
• Earliest start date for funded projects: July 1, 2024
• Completion date for funded projects: June 30, 2025

The Innovations in Education Fund (IEF) provides support for New School faculty in their work as innovators in the areas of curriculum and pedagogy. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis for projects that promote innovative methods of teaching, learning, and/or evaluation.

2024-2025 Faculty Funding Opportunity: Innovations in Education Fund for Generative AI

Given the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence applications like ChatGPT and Midjourney and their significant impact on teaching in higher education and many professions, the Provost’s Office has decided to dedicate the Innovations in Education Fund for 2024–2025 to proposals focused on the integration of existing university software licenses (e.g., Adobe) or open-source (free) generative AI tools into teaching, learning, and supporting students. This includes approaches to research, design, creativity, and performance that foster deeper learning and understanding, innovation, and ethical considerations across all disciplines.

Rather than individual grant proposals, we solicit applications to modify a course through innovative uses of generative AI tools and to participate in a community of practice. Selected participants will receive a stipend of $2,500 for participation for the academic year. Unlike proposals in prior years, proposals this year should focus on modifications to existing course offerings confirmed for the 2024–2025 year. This is not a call for new course proposals.

Awardees will participate in a teaching and learning community of practice, will be supported pre-proposal by the Innovation Center and the Faculty Center, if desired, and will be asked to participate in a series of supportive meetings during the academic year, culminating in a university symposium on AI in spring 2025 (see below for more details). The course proposed may be taught in fall or spring; six participants will be chosen for each, and all selected participants will be expected to engage in the program for the full year. We seek applicants from across all university programs. (If you are a part-time faculty member and teach an assigned syllabus, please confer with your program leadership about whether and how your course can be adapted.)

Eligibility: Full-time faculty and part-time faculty who have annual status as of fall 2024. Visiting faculty, postdoctoral fellows, faculty in the final year of a fixed-term appointment, and university administrators are not eligible.

Amount: $2,500 stipend 

Deadline for proposals: Friday, March 15, 2024

Application: Innovations in Education Fund Application 2024–2025

Awardees will participate in a teaching and learning community of practice. Twelve faculty members will be accepted; six will teach their course with AI integration in the fall and six will teach their course with AI integration in the spring. Support for participants includes: 

1. A one-on-one meeting with members of the team supporting the IEF participants (representatives from the Innovation Center, the Faculty Center, and Curriculum, Learning, and Academic Affairs in the Provost’s Office) to discuss the course and proposal plans before the semester in which the course is offered 

2. Six cohort meetings during the 2024–2025 academic year

3. Participation (e.g., as a panelist or through presentation of work) in a university symposium on AI in spring 2025

Support for proposal design is available through the Innovation Center and the Faculty Center. While it is not required, applicants are encouraged to take advantage of these resources to increase their chances of submitting a successful proposal. 

For questions, please contact Rita Breidenbach at [email protected].

Mentoring has emerged as an important part of academic life in the last decade. In an increasingly complex world, faculty participate in a wider range of activities, from teaching and advising, doing research, and engaging in creative practice to preparing for review, building and administering programs, developing collegial relationships, and much else.

Mentoring provides a network of support for faculty as they negotiate this complicated terrain; it enables an individual faculty member to draw on the advice and experience of many others. Faculty may develop mentoring relationships with senior experts or early-career practitioners; they may collaborate with non-academic professionals such as librarians, editors, curators or administrators; they may forge connections both within the university and outside. This flexible model recognizes that no single individual possesses all the expertise needed to answer questions about research, pedagogy, promotion, or work-life balance; it also helps meet the mentoring needs of faculty members in interdisciplinary or niche fields and those underrepresented in the academy.

The New School favors an inclusive, non-hierarchical approach to mentoring rather than a traditional top-down model. Mentoring happens in multiple ways, according to faculty needs: one-on-one or in groups; senior to junior, peer to peer, even junior to senior; within departments or programs or outside of them; within a college, across several colleges, or, if appropriate, even outside of the university. Mentoring is always understood to be developmental rather than evaluative.

The New School’s Mentoring Grants Program supports faculty in creating their own mentoring networks or activities, either singly (Individual Grants) or in groups (Team Grants). It encourages faculty to become proactive in their own career development and to pursue mentoring opportunities tailored to their specific career paths.

The Provost's Office is committed to an ongoing evaluation of the Mentoring Grants Program, part of its new Mentoring Initiative. If you have any questions or are interested in reviewing project proposals, please contact the Faculty Center for Innovation, Collaboration, and Support at [email protected].

The Mentoring Grants Program finances mentoring projects designed either by individual faculty members or by teams of faculty. All principal full-time faculty members (in the categories of tenure, extended employment, or renewable term appointments) are eligible to apply.

Applications are reviewed by a committee of full-time faculty members from the university’s colleges at different stages in their careers. Award amounts are determined on the basis of the project budget and the total number of awards made. The maximum award for an individual grant is $1,000 and for a team grant is $5,000.

Individual Grants
Individual grants (up to $1,000) are awarded to faculty members for projects that expand their mentoring support in areas such as teaching, research, promotion and work-life balance, in association with on- or off-campus mentoring partners. Funds can be used for expenses related to traveling to visit a new mentoring partner, exploring new research or teaching methods with a mentor, or presenting research with a mentor. Grants can be given as honoraria to mentoring partners who come to The New School for presentations. Preference is given to projects that seek to establish ongoing, long-term mentoring relationships. 

Team Grants
Team grants (up to $5,000) provide support for departmental, college-level, and interdisciplinary mentoring projects involving teams of three or more faculty members; they address a need for mentoring support shared by a group of individuals. Topics might include orientation to the university and its culture, research and teaching skills, collegiality and community building, promotion and work-life balance. Preference is given to projects that involve a shared, public component. 

Applying for a Grant
The deadline for submission is March 1 each year. The application form for both Individual and Team Mentoring Grants can be found here. For questions regarding the application process, please contact Rita Breidenbach.

• Eligibility: Principal full-time faculty members (in the categories of tenure, extended employment, and renewable term appointments) are eligible.
• Criteria: Particular attention will be given to proposals addressing a mentoring need that cannot be fully satisfied on campus. The selection committee is particularly interested in grant proposals that meet the following criteria:
• Impact: How does the project address an unmet mentoring need? Is the project likely to be effective in developing long-term mentoring support?
• Feasibility: How does the project's scope and budget reflect realistic, practical, and fiscally responsible mentoring outcomes?
• Inclusion: How does the project bring faculty together in a way that respects, promotes, and encourages diversity?
• Replication: How can the project serve as a model to be replicated at The New School?

Grants cannot be used to fund pre-existing programs or regular departmental or college activities.

Timeline

• Application deadline: March 1 each year
• Awards announced: Fall semester of award year
• Earliest start date for funded projects: July 1 of award year
• Completion date for funded projects: June 30 of award year