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

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.

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.