The University of Mississippi

Quality Enhancement Plan

FACT Institute Grants

Funding Amount: $4,000 for individuals or more for departmental teams

Eligibility: Faculty who attended the FACT Institute on August 9, 2023

Description: The FACT Institute Grants support faculty or departmental teams who wish to redesign a lower-division course or courses they will be teaching in Spring 2024. Redesigns should include, but are not limited to, course outcomes, assignments, and teaching methods, with an eye toward revising these elements to enhance critical thinking. Grant recipients will meet once every two weeks in peer cohorts with Josh Eyler, the Director of Faculty Development, to work on the redesign and to reflect on the process. Recipients will assess the effectiveness of their course redesign.

How to Apply: Applicants should propose a redesign for a lower-division course or courses they are teaching in Spring 2024. We welcome individual or team proposals for FACT Institute Grants.

Proposals should include: 1) your name(s); 2) department; 3) Spring 2024 course or courses to be redesigned and the role the course(s) play in the undergraduate curriculum for your department; 4) the number of students who will benefit from the proposed redesign in Spring 2024; 5) a 300-word rationale explaining the role critical thinking currently plays in your course(s) and how the redesign will help you to more intentionally teach and assess critical thinking; and 6) a brief statement from your department chair confirming support for your proposal.

Proposals should specifically discuss the ways in which the redesigned course will address two or more of the QEP Student Learning Outcomes:

  1. Conceptualize complex issues or problems
  2. Gather pertinent facts or ideas to explore complex issues or problems
  3. Interpret data and appraise evidence
  4. Distinguish, compare, or contrast diverse points of view and/or alternative conclusions
  5. Articulate personal insights about complex issues or problems
  6. Communicate a reasonable and effective argument, response, or conclusion (ThinkForward QEP, pp. 28-29)
  • Applications are due on Tuesday, September 5th, via email to Josh Eyler at jreyler@olemiss.edu.

Review Process: Applications will be reviewed by a subset of the QEP Advisory Board. Decisions will be communicated to all applicants by Wednesday, September 13th.

Important Information:

  • Fall Semester 2023: Grant recipients will meet with Josh Eyler, the Director of Faculty Development, four times during the semester to work on course redesign in peer cohorts.
  • Spring Semester 2024: Faculty teach redesigned course(s) and submit report on intervention with assessment results.
  • Faculty record revised outcomes, curriculum, assessment, and teaching notes throughout the process in a collaborative Teaching and Learning Guide.