Grant Competition for REVISED Courses

Call for Proposals 2026-2027

This year’s Common Curriculum (CC) grant competition will focus on the new Dialogue Competency that is anticipated to launch in Fall 2030. Unlike previous competitions, where we still accepted applications for courses outside the stated foci, this year, the Common Curriculum Committee (CCC) will only be awarding courses that seek to incorporate Dialogue, as it has recently been defined by our working group. Please note that this is the university-level Dialogue Competency requirement. It is NOT related to the “Communication and Dialogue” skill area in the CLAS requirements.

As in the past, there will be two separate grant competitions this year:

Grant for NEW Courses
Grant for REVISED Courses

This CFP is for REVISED courses. You may submit more than one grant if you want to revise more than one course. A “revised” course is defined as one that is currently listed in the catalog or currently approved to be listed in the upcoming catalog. Under this definition, courses previously offered as “Special Topics” are considered “new” and should be submitted for the New Course Grant competition.

*Courses fulfilling the Dialogue Competency also need to carry Topics of Inquiry (TOIs).

Proposals will be judged on the following main criteria:

Alignment of the course’s Student Learning Objectives to both TOI-specific Learning Objectives and Dialogue Competency Learning Objectives
Plan for assessment of Student Learning Objectives
Innovative or creative pedagogical elements, especially as they relate to Dialogue
Appropriateness for the Common Curriculum (i.e. courses at the introductory levels are especially encouraged.)

Proposal Submission

Each proposal should include:

Thorough but concise answers to the questions in the proposal form (see supplied form for technical guidelines and requirements)
An emailed statement of support (see template) from the department or unit head of each dept/unit involved (i.e. courses that are cross listed with other departments should have statements of support from each).
Regional Campuses: If the faculty member proposing the course is based at a regional campus, and the course being proposed will primarily be offered at that regional campus, please also have the director of course scheduling at that campus email a statement of support.

Who Can Submit

Fulltime tenure and fulltime non-tenure track faculty with the permission of their department head can submit proposals. Proposals from adjunct faculty or graduate students are generally not accepted, but an exception might be made under special circumstances and with written approval of the department head prior to the grant deadline.

Due Date

Proposals are due by 11:59pm on October 18, 2026.

Award Amount and Funding Details

ALL awards are for $2500, no more, no less. Any proposal funded will receive that amount.
Funding will automatically be applied toward summer salary for anyone receiving an award. $2500 is the base stipend, and fringe will be paid on top of that.
Proposals with multiple awardees can divide the funding amongst them however they wish, or the funding can also be applied to salary for student labor. The faculty member’s home department is responsible for processing HR and payroll paperwork for student labor.
If faculty wish to receive payment as overload pay, that must be coordinated with their department, and the department will be responsible for processing all HR and payroll paperwork.
Faculty have the option to transfer their award to their faculty research account instead of it being used toward summer salary. Please note that – per HR – the award is not transferred to the account until the end of the grant period.
If faculty wish to use their award to buy supplies, they may do so, but the supplies will need to either be purchased with summer salary or through research account funds.

Submission

An electronic copy of the proposal should be sent to commoncurr@uconn.edu with the Subject Line “Revised Course Proposal - Provost’s Common Curriculum Grant.” Emails of support can be sent separately, but please be advised that proposals will not be considered for funding until the emails of support are received.

Evaluation Committee

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty and representatives from CCC+ subcommittees, the Instructional Design and Development Group in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and colleagues with expertise in related areas.

Requirements for Awarded Proposals

Faculty who receive funding for their proposal will still need to submit a new course proposal form and full syllabus for the course approval process. Courses must be submitted in the Course Inventory Management (CIM) system by September 1, 2027.

Awardees are also required to attend a two-day, in-person Dialogue training January 13-14, 2027, and will be encouraged to avail themselves of other Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning resources in instructional design.

NOTE: The Dialogue Competency as a credit-bearing requirement is slated to launch in Fall 2030, but grant awardees should nevertheless plan to offer their course in the 2028-29 academic year. CCC will ask for feedback and best-practice suggestions from instructors in preparation to launch in 2030. Please note that a new CIM request will need to be submitted in Fall 2029 to officially add the Dialogue Competency to the course in time for Fall 2030.

Timeline

Submission Deadline – October 18, 2026
Awards announced – By the mid-December 2026
Mandatory Dialogue training – January 13-14, 2027
Summer salary paid out to awardees – Summer 2027
Course Action Request forms submitted in the system – By September 1, 2027
Course fully approved by University Senate before February 5, 2028
Course taught for the first time – AY 28-29

Contact

Email Karen McDermott at karen.mcdermott@uconn.edu or commoncurr@uconn.edu with any technical questions. For pedagogical questions, contact Jamie Kleinman at jamie.kleinman@uconn.edu.

Downloadable Call for Proposals

Downloadable Proposal Form