Provost Initiative

Provost E-Learning Initiative Request for Proposals

The University of Florida aspires to greater academic excellence. The Provost E-learning Initiative seeks to further improve the quality of learning and the learning experience for students, as well as to facilitate the teaching process for faculty. To achieve this, the Provost envisioned a series of course offerings for undergraduate students using pedagogical best practice and transformation of education using information technology.

The purpose is to prepare twenty-first century learners for an increasingly connected and complex global society by implementing practices that involve inquiry, interactivity, collaboration and technology enriched learning environments. In addition, to ensure that educational outcomes are maximized with the resources currently available for teaching and learning at UF.

The specific goal for this initiative is to support Colleges and Departments in providing students at the University of Florida with a series of online exemplary courses that

  1. Improve the quality of learning while maintaining or reducing the cost of instruction.
  2. Help satisfy needs in high demand areas (large enrollment, courses with caps).
  3. Help satisfy general education and Gordon rule requirements.
  4. Provide flexible offerings that students can access locally and at a distance (including summer).
  5. Increase student count.

Not all conditions above need to be addressed for a successful award. Special consideration will be given to large enrollment courses. For this proposal, large enrollment courses are defined as courses with an average enrollment of more than 100 students per year.

Funding Level

Requests for funding should not exceed the following:

  1. $10,000 paid to the department to facilitate faculty availability for work on the project.
  2. $20,000 for in-kind development services from the Office Academic Technology for instructional design, online resource development, programming and other services required for successful online delivery.

Scoring and Evaluation of Grant Proposals

Selection of a grant proposal for this program will be based on how the proposal addresses items 1 through 5 in the introduction above in addition to: a) sustainability of the course, b) cost of the project in relation to its goals, and c) how the faculty’s experience can be diffused throughout the College, University and professional peers. A short list of proposals will be selected by a committee appointed by the Provost. The principal investigators will be interviewed by instructional designers. Following the interviews a final selection of courses will be made and announced.

Expected Commitment from Faculty and Department

Faculty members who apply and receive this funding agree to actively participate in the course development process. This will require a significant time commitment on the part of the faculty member(s) and/or TA(s). The development process will be in collaboration with an instructional designer and supported by a web development and programming team. Expected commitment from faculty includes but is not limited to the following:

  1. Full participation on a two-day Faculty Summer Institute the week of May 5, 2008.
  2. Regular collaboration through meetings scheduled with the development team.
  3. Creation of course goals and learning objectives.
  4. Content creation and/or repurposing of existing materials. This may include but not be limited to:
    • Online lectures.
    • Text or multimedia.
    • Interactive modules and activities.
    • Assessment items.
  5. Adherence to a timeline for successful deployment in spring 2009.
  6. Share experiences with other UF faculty and peers:
    • Within the Department and College.
    • Mentoring faculty that are interested in online learning.
    • As a guest speaker in future E-Learning Summer Institutes and the UF Faculty Showcase and Symposium.
    • Presentations at professional meetings and conferences.

Departmental commitment to the required faculty time and to the sustainability plan presented in the RFP is expected. The RFP must be approved by the department chair and the dean to ensure it is aligned with Department and College program needs and strategies.

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