Faculty Program of Study in a Second Discipline

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The Faculty Fellowships for Study in a Second Discipline offer faculty members an opportunity to extend their scholarship through a new area of study that complements their major area of teaching and research. Fellowships will be awarded for one or two semesters. The Office of the Provost will make available a sum of $3500 per semester to the recipient in the form of Supply and Expense support for travel, equipment, software, and other similar expenses. The department and school/college will assume responsibility for covering the teaching assignments of the faculty recipient during the period of engagement in this program. The home department of the recipient will receive the sum of $7,000 to help offset the cost of lost instruction. A maximum of five semesters of study will be awarded each year.

Awards will be made on a competitive basis. Participation is limited to tenured faculty, and the study must take place on the West Lafayette campus. Fellowships are limited to one semester or one academic year. The Faculty Fellowships for Study in a Second Discipline are separate and distinct from the sabbatical or leave program. Each college/school is limited to two faculty nominees per academic year. At the end of the academic year of the award, recipients will be asked to provide an account of their activity including a description of the benefits of the fellowship for the faculty member's teaching, scholarship, and extramural funding as a result of participation in the program.

The following guidelines apply:

1. This program is established for faculty to have release time from teaching (except from direction of theses and dissertations) to enlarge the range of their knowledge by the study of disciplines other than those in their present field(s) of specialization. Applicants must propose a program of study in a new discipline through auditing courses, undertaking independent study, conducting interdisciplinary research, or other activities that will contribute to competence in the new discipline. The new area of study must be supported by one or more advisers/collaborators from the host department, school or center.

2. There must be a demonstrable relationship between the applicant's primary field of specialization and the new discipline of interest. Application for study in a field the applicant already employs in his or her current work is not acceptable.

3. To apply, the faculty member must receive approval and authorization from the head of his or her home department and dean of the school or college from which he or she is to be released from teaching responsibilities for at least one semester or academic year. At his or her own discretion, the successful applicant may undertake departmental activities provided that these do not interfere with the study in a second discipline.

4. Applications must be forwarded to the Office of the Provost on or before December 1, 2006. The application must include:
(a) the signature of the applicant’s department head and dean;
(b) the signatures of the host faculty member and his or her department head and dean;
(c) the requested effective date for a particular award which can be either August 2007 or January 2008

Three broad criteria will guide the selection process:

(a) The demonstrated need for formal study in another discipline to undertake new inquiries in research and teaching;

(b) The potential for the proposed project to add significantly to the knowledge in both disciplines;

(c) The degree to which the interdisciplinary work forwards either or both departments’ strategic plans.