Month: January 2022

Presidential Fund for Curricular Innovation (PFCI): Now Accepting Applications for 2022-23 Curriculum Internationalization and Inclusion Studio

Description

Internationalization, diversity, equity, and inclusion are strategic priorities for Emerson. Emerson’s Strategic Plan defines Internationalization as the commitment to “mutually beneficial engagement with the global society in which we participate, and to ensuring that all members of our community are prepared to thrive in that society.” Similarly, Emerson’s dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion is rooted in the belief that “institutional and academic excellence are not possible without full engagement with diversity across all areas of the College.” Academic Affairs, with the support of the Academic Cabinet and faculty leadership, have identified academic and inclusive excellence as priorities for the College.

Inclusive approaches to curriculum development and equitable pedagogical practices help ensure that learning experiences at Emerson are intentionally designed and facilitated to meet the needs, interests, and goals that foster student success in a culturally diverse and global society. The President’s Fund for Curricular Innovation will support faculty participation in a Curriculum Internationalization and Inclusion Studio for 2022. The goals of the Studio are to:

  • Build our collective capacity to internationalize and diversify the curriculum and to promote more expansive and equitable approaches to teaching/learning;
  • Develop and refine specific courses, with corresponding pedagogical methods that contribute to these aims;
  • “… encourage[s] new ways of thinking, [and] incorporate[s] new methodologies, so that different epistemological questions are raised, old assumptions are questioned, subjective data sources are considered, and prior theories either revised or invalidated” (Marchesani & Adams, 1992).

Ultimately, the aim is to offer curricula that assists students with developing the required critical consciousness, values, awareness, skills and knowledge of differences to thrive as culturally competent, global citizens.


Stipends and Other Resources

Each faculty member will receive a stipend of $1,200 for creating new curriculum. Faculty members selected for the Studio will have the opportunity to apply for further funding for project-related expenses (travel, funds to hire student assistants, materials, etc.).

Note: Stipends are paid as additional compensation and are subject to applicable state and federal payroll taxes. Stipends will be paid in two installments at the end of the summer.


Studio Format and Schedule

Between April and May of 2022, accepted faculty members will participate in a series of individual and/or small group meetings, during which they will develop their projects, be in dialogue with each other and enhance their capacity to serve as a resource for colleagues interested in internationalizing and/or diversifying the curriculum.

Faculty members are expected to work on their projects throughout the summer of 2022. Each team member will receive a $1,200 stipend, paid in two installments, beginning in August.

In the Fall of 2022, faculty members will provide an update on the status of their project development or implementation.

The intention of this program is to support work that will become a vibrant and enduring part of the Emerson curricula. Admission to the Studio is an important step toward that end. All new curriculum will also need to be approved through regular college/departmental processes.


Eligibility

All full-time Emerson College faculty members are eligible to apply. Individual full-time faculty may apply to create new courses or to revise existing courses, or they may create a team proposal that affects curricula in several courses. Teams must be led by a full-time faculty member and may include one affiliated faculty member as a team member.

NOTE: Faculty members may apply to the PFCI and the Diversity Fellows Program in the same cycle, so long as the applications are for separate and distinct projects.


Evaluation Criteria

Project proposals must:

  1. Contribute demonstrably to the internationalization and/or diversification of the curriculum and teaching and learning at Emerson College. 
  2. Be submitted by Emerson College faculty members.
  3. Articulate a clear project, including:
  4. A rationale for its development;
  5. The strategy for internationalizing/diversifying the curricula. How will you introduce new materials, pedagogical methods, and new learning goals?
  6. The work plan and timeline for its development and implementation (i.e. if you are developing or revising a course or course module, specify when you propose to teach it);
  7. An assessment plan; markers of success over time; and
  8. The steps and timeline of necessary curricular approvals and any cross-registration(s);
  9. A plan for sustained engagement of the goals or project within the course, department or school.

Selection Process

Proposals will be reviewed by the Selection Committee, which is co-chaired by the Vice Provost for Internationalization and Equity and the Director for Faculty Development and Diversity. The Selection Committee (including academic deans) will share their decisions with the Provost for review.


Application Timetable

  • January 28, 2022 — Application period opens
  • March 14, 2022 — Application period ends
  • April 29 – May 3, 2022 — Applicants notified of results

Application Form

  1. Eligible faculty members can access the application form here via Google Forms.
  2. One application form per team should be completed and submitted.
  3. After you submit your proposal, you will receive a copy of your responses via email, and will have until March 14, 2022, to make any changes.
  4. During the 2022 proposal cycle, the PFCI Selection Committee will prioritize proposals that center pedagogical practices and curricula emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental elements of learning experiences.

Application Questions

Applicants should be ready to answer the following questions on their applications:

  1. Please list the name, rank, and department for each faculty member associated with the proposed course or project.
  2. Please provide brief curriculum vitae—no more than 2 pages each–for each applicant or team member. These must be combined and submitted as one document.
  3. Indicate which strategic priority your proposal will address (internationalization or inclusive excellence).
  4. Course/Project Title
  5. Course/Project Summary (1500-character limit)
  6. Project Description – Please be as specific as possible:
    1. The rationale for your project, a statement of how your project will contribute to internationalizing/diversifying the College curriculum.
    1. The pedagogical approaches to be employed (i.e. methods, strategies, new learning goals, etc.) 
    1. If the proposal is for a team project, detail the role of each person on your team, and the overall contribution that person will make to the project.
    1. Provide a work plan and timeline for the life of this project based either on the work of the single person submitting this proposal, or the work of each named team member.  Please include key benchmarks for each person’s progress.
    1. A clear statement on when the course/project will be implemented. If you are developing or revising a course, specify when you plan to teach it.
    1. Markers of success over time. How will you know that your project has had an impact on the curriculum?  On student learning?
    1. For any project proposing the creation of a new course, share your department’s curricular review and approval process.
  7. Map any curricular review and approval process needed to implement the innovation and include a timeline.

Contact Information

Questions can be directed to Dr. Anthony Pinder, Vice Provost for Internationalization & Equity, and Dr. Tuesda Roberts, Director for Faculty Development and Diversity.

New IRB Guidance on Compensation for Human Subjects

ORCS and the Office of Finance are currently developing a dedicated policy on how to pay human subject participants in IRB-approved research at Emerson College. In the interim, we have added new guidance on this topic to the Institutional Review Board’s home page, entitled Compensation for Human Subjects. The contents of this section is reproduced below.

As always, please feel free to contact ORCS should you have any questions.

Compensation for Human Subjects

A research protocol may offer compensation to human subjects for their participation. Researchers who are conducting sponsor funded research or internally funded research are responsible for ensuring that subjects are eligible to receive payments (in accordance with US Tax and Immigration laws) and for ensuring that the payment process is appropriate. The following section outlines how human subjects can be compensated.

Compensation and Consent Considerations

Payments or non-monetary rewards may be given to subjects as remuneration for time and inconvenience of participation in research studies, as well as an incentive to participate. Compensation can include monetary (gift cards, vouchers, etc.) and/or non-monetary (gifts/promotional items, etc.) remuneration.

There are two ways in which compensation can be problematic:

  • Undue influence: An offer of excessive or inappropriate compensation is made in order to obtain compliance.
  • Coercion: An overt or implicit threat of harm/negative consequences is intentionally presented by one person to another in order to obtain compliance.

Protocol and Consent Considerations: The protocol application should fully describe the plan for compensation of subjects as well as the reasoning behind the amount, method of payment, proration and scheduling of payment, and any other terms of compensation — for example, what happens if a subject withdraws his or her participation. All of this information should be included in the informed consent process. It is also appropriate to disclose possible compensation in recruiting and advertising materials. 

Amount of Payments

Compensation should be appropriate for the time and effort subjects devote to participation. The level of payment should not be high enough to cause subjects to accept risks that they would not otherwise accept or participate in activities to which they would otherwise strongly object based on personal values or beliefs.

Some researchers may base the payment amount on the acceptable average wage in the location where the research is conducted or for the specific study population. This is often an acceptable level of payment that does not exert undue influence. When hourly payments are not suitable or feasible, compensation may be task- or procedure-specific (for example, some studies pay subjects per sample collection or survey).

Methods of Compensation

Emerson College facilities the payment of human subjects by researchers through the following methods (in order of institutional preference):

  1. Payments to Participants via Online Survey Platforms. For protocols that solicit participant responses via a College-approved online survey platform –such as Qualtrics– a researcher may elect to have the platform pay Human Subjects directly for their participation. For more information on using Qualtrics through Emerson’s site license, click here.
  2. Tangible Items/Gifts are non-cash items given to human subjects in recognition of their participation in a protocol. Examples include Examples include: books, trophies, plaques, event tickets, food, Emerson logo items, memento items, pens, pennants, or similar items. Gift items may be purchased via the Workday Marketplace, or submitted for reimbursement via an Expense Report (subject to the College’s purchasing and reimbursement policies). 
  3. Gift Cards are “cash equivalents” that can be used to purchase merchandise or which can be easily converted to cash.

Gift card payments are reportable as miscellaneous income to the IRS. It is strongly recommended that a researcher contact the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship for assistance with acquiring gift cards for human subject payments. Gift cards being held in reserve may be stored securely in a fireproof safe by the Office of Finance, upon request.

Prohibition on the Use of Personal Funds. Under no circumstances should researchers use their personal funds to compensate human subjects. These cannot be reimbursed under Emerson’s accounting rules. 

Tracking Human Subject Payments

Researchers on an IRB-approved protocol must maintain a payment log for all payments made to human subject participants. Researchers must record the following information for each Payment to an individual:

  1. Full legal name
  2. Active phone number or email
  3. Date, amount, and method of payment

For protocols that pledge confidentiality to participants, the researcher should use a coded identifier in place of an individual’s name, using the same identifier consistently for each participant. However, the researcher must also record sufficient information so that an individual can be contacted by Emerson for IRS-required information when the $600 threshold is reached.

Tax-Reporting Requirements and IRS Obligations of the College

The IRS treats monetary human subject payments (gift cards or gift certificates) as taxable income to the recipient. This means the recipient is supposed to report the payment when they file a personal tax return at the end of the year. 

As the payer, Emerson must adhere to IRS regulations. The tax treatment of human subject payments depends on the amount paid, the recipient’s tax status, and whether the study takes place inside or outside the U.S.

If Emerson issues $600 or more in Human Subject Payments to an individual in a calendar year, the College is required to report the payments to the IRS and issue the recipient a Form 1099.

Pursuant to the above, Emerson must collect a completed and signed Form W 9 from an individual when they receive $600 or more in Human Subjects Payments in a calendar year. Participants should be notified of this requirement in the Informed Consent Form. 

Payments to human subjects facilitated by a third-party data-collection platform, such as Qualtrics, are typically exempt from the above rule, but must still be logged by the researchers. 

Further Guidance on Paying Human Subjects

For further information, policies and procedures on compensating human subjects, please contact the Executive Director for the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship. A dedicated policy to this topic, Payment of Human Subjects Participants in Research, is forthcoming from the College.

Faculty Spotlight: December 2021

The Office of Research and Creative Scholarship has been spotlighting faculty on Twitter. Follow @Emerson_ORCS to see our Faculty Spotlight posts.

https://twitter.com/Emerson_ORCS/status/1468265044555096077
https://twitter.com/Emerson_ORCS/status/1470423691427303430
https://twitter.com/Emerson_ORCS/status/1471558293973786624
https://twitter.com/Emerson_ORCS/status/1472976086917009411

Affiliated Faculty Professional Development Fund (AFDF): Now Accepting Applications For AY22-23 (Due March 14)

The Affiliated Faculty Professional Development Fund (AFDF) is now accepting applications for support in Academic Year 2022-23. The AFDF supports the scholarly and creative activities of the affiliated faculty members of Emerson College. The Office of Research and Creative Scholarship administers the fund.

Upcoming Grant Period

Grants awarded in this cycle must be conducted between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

Current Grant Period

Grants awarded for AY2021–2022 must be conducted between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.

A Note About COVID-19

While restrictions continue for on-campus and in-person activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emerson College remains committed to supporting faculty research, scholarship, and creative work through its internal grant programs. Nonetheless, applicants are reminded that AFDF funds are not transferable from one year to the next, and the College can make no guarantees about providing exceptions to awardees who do not utilize the entirety of their grant by project cycle end date (June 30, 2023). Proposals that include travel or other in-person scheduled activities should thus be carefully considered. Proposals for projects with planned on-campus activities will be subject to the College’s current limitations in this area.

Eligibility

To be eligible for these funds, the applicant:

  • Must be a member of the Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College (AFEC-AAUP);
  • Must have taught at least one course during each of the prior three consecutive years, including the current academic year (2021-2022); and-
  • Must be slated to teach at least one Emerson course in the Academic Year for which the AFDF award will be granted (2022-2023).

AFDF Funding

The AFDF Grant will provide support for approved projects up to $1,500 each. The Provost makes the final decision for funding and determination of awards, based on the recommendations of the AFDF Committee.

Types of Activities Funded

  • Travel and expenses leading to scholarly, peer-reviewed publications
  • Travel and expenses leading to the production of creative and artistic works such as media productions, creative writing, performances, screenplays, exhibitions, audio and music productions, etc.
  • Travel and expenses related to refereed conference presentations of scholarly or creative activities
  • Travel and expenses related to presentations to industry-related conferences and conventions
  • Expenses for attending seminars and conferences related to new course development
  • Expenses for attending faculty development seminars and conferences to improve teaching skills

Types of Activities Not Funded

  • Activities that are already defined as part of affiliated faculty members’ expected duties and responsibilities.
  • Activities for which the affiliated faculty member is already receiving compensation, course release, or some other form of College support.
  • Additional salary or compensation for Emerson faculty and staff.
  • Retroactive expenses and activities

Criteria and Considerations

  • Applications must be complete, clearly written, compelling, well defined and easily understood by all of the reviewers.
  • Applications that are incomplete and do not follow directions may be disqualified.
  • While applicants may apply for consecutive year awards, the committee will evaluate proposals that are a continuation of any previously funded projects to determine if funding is appropriate.
  • Support for travel from the AFDF should be for activities that directly advance proposal activities.
  • Applicants are required to submit a report of their project after completion.
  • Applicants must be slated to teach at least one Emerson course in the academic year for which the AFDF award will be granted (2021–2022).

Application Instructions

This year, we have migrated the application packet to Google Forms. The advantages to this format include:

  • Email recognition: The form will recognize your Emerson email and open a blank application that will be automatically saved in your name.
  • Elimination of portable document errors: Reviewers will log directly into Google forms to read applications, removing the need to send electronic documents back and forth and reducing the chance for error.
  • Auto-save: The form saves your work automatically as you proceed.
  • Document uploads: Budget requests are now uploaded as a separate file, and you can also upload supplementary documents to bolster your proposal. 
  • Ability to make revisions until the deadline: Applicants can make changes to their form up until the AFDF due date (March 14).

To begin your AFDF application, click on this link. After you submit your proposal, you will receive a copy of your responses via email, and will have until March 14, 2022, to make any changes.

AFDF Calendar

DATEEVENT
January 21, 2022AFDF is announced
March 14, 2022AFDF applications are due via Google Forms
After March 14, 2022Committee evaluation of all proposals and recommendations to the Provost regarding proposal support and level of funding
By April 26, 2022The Provost, in consideration of the recommendations provided by the AFDF Committee, will make final selections and award determinations. The Provost will notify the committee in writing, electronically, about the final awards.
By May 10, 2022AFDF recipients are notified that they are receiving the award.
July 2022–June 2023Approved projects conducted
June 15, 2023Last day to request reimbursement for eligible expenses in Workday.
November 1, 2023Final report due for projects conducted during AY2022.

The AFDF Committee

Applications will be reviewed by Affiliated Faculty Professional Development Fund (AFDF) Committee (“the Committee”) consisting of five (5) adjuncts, three of whom will be elected by the affiliated faculty, and two of whom will be appointed by the Provost. Members serving on the committee are not eligible to apply for awards from the Fund in the year(s) on which they are reviewing applications.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén