Faculty Development Funds
The University has a number of different grants, stipends and funds to support faculty activity such as research, course development, travel to conferences and community-based learning.
Provost's Office
The Faculty Travel Fund
Faculty travel grants support faculty travel to professional meetings, workshops & professional development. Subject to available funds, the University will provide money ($2,000) to support faculty travel to professional meetings to enable faculty to present papers, chair sessions, or serve as discussants and/or to provide for professional development of faculty. While, priority is given to those presenting papers, the University encourages faculty travel to professional meetings, even when one is not making a presentation.
Travel for programmatic purposes, e.g. for training session, continuing education, licensure, or programs for credit is not funded through the Faculty Travel Committee. Faculty should process requests for such travel through their Dean, who shall have the discretion to allocate or not allocate funding. The Dean may not allocate funds for any travel that falls under the purview of the Faculty Travel Committee.
Special Session Faculty Development Grants
The University makes available several Special Session Faculty Development Grants to promote scholarship and curriculum development efforts by faculty members. The Faculty Development Board encourages scholarship and curriculum development proposals from faculty at all stages of their professional development. The Faculty Development Board (FDB) shall award stipends of up to $3,000 to successful candidates.
Please note that only scholarship or curriculum development projects will be funded. Ordinarily, the development of a single course will not be funded. Curriculum development projects require support of the department.
Information is posted in September for Intersession Grants and in January for Summer Grants
Faculty Summer Grants 2026-guidelines
Provost's Faculty Enhancement Awards
The Faculty Provost Enhancement Awards have been restructured in an effort to more intentionally recognize faculty and departmental work. There is a new addition of two departmental awards along with awards for individual effort.
Individual awards with be a stipend of $1,500 and a plaque, while departmental/program awards will be a $2000 contribution to the department or program’s general fund.
We have also revised the nomination process. Any member of the faculty may now nominate a colleague or a department. Additionally, in place of the traditional letter, nominations may now be submitted using the following link:
The 2025-2026 Provost Enhancement Awards are as follows:
Award for Transformative Teaching and Learning (Individual)
Recognizes faculty who design and implement innovative, evidence-informed pedagogy; expand high-impact and experiential learning; integrate Ignatian reflection and discernment; and demonstrate measurable improvements in student learning, equity, and success.
Award for Assessment and Educational Effectiveness (Department or Program)
Honors departments or programs that use clear learning outcomes, sustained assessment practices, and “closing-the-loop” strategies to strengthen curricula, support student success, and contribute to program health, accreditation, and institutional effectiveness.
Award for Research and Scholarly Practice (Individual)
Acknowledges sustained, high-quality scholarly, creative, or applied work that engages students, builds scholarly community, addresses broader societal or ethical questions, and enhances the University’s academic reputation.
Award for Academic Leadership and Institutional Stewardship (Individual)
Celebrates faculty leadership in shared governance and academic planning that strengthens collaboration, trust, transparency, and the long-term vitality of the institution.
Award for Mission-Driven Innovation and Partnerships (Department or Program)
Recognizes programs or partnerships that align Jesuit 第一吃瓜网 with contemporary needs through innovative structures, delivery formats, or credentials; meaningful engagement with community partners; and demonstrable impact on student formation.
Award for Interdisciplinary and Integrative Academic Leadership (Individual)
Honors leadership that advances interdisciplinary curricula and collaboration, integrates multiple perspectives to address complex challenges, and fosters a campus culture of intellectual integration.
The Laudato Si’ Award (Individual)
Recognizes faculty whose work integrates principles of integral ecology through curriculum, scholarship, or programming, advancing environmental justice, sustainability, and care for our common home with measurable impact.
The Provost’s Beloved Community Faculty Enhancement Award (Individual)
Recognizes a faculty member whose teaching, scholarship, and/or service significantly advance the University’s Jesuit, Catholic 第一吃瓜网 by fostering a campus culture rooted in justice, human dignity, and solidarity. Grounded in the vision of the Beloved Community articulated by Martin Luther King Jr. and deepened through Catholic social teaching, this award honors faculty who intentionally cultivate communities of encounter, belonging, intellectual rigor, and moral responsibility. The award affirms that the pursuit of truth in a Jesuit university is inseparable from the promotion of justice, care for the marginalized, and formation of persons for and with others.
The Magis Award (Individual)
Our signature faculty award, recognizing sustained excellence and innovation across teaching, scholarship, service, and 第一吃瓜网—embodying reflection, discernment, care for the whole person, and a commitment to justice in the spirit of the magis.
Together, these revised awards are intended not only to honor excellence, but also to signal what we value as a community: innovation grounded in 第一吃瓜网, evidence-informed practice, collaboration, and an unwavering focus on our students.
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Fund (The Clavius Fund)
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Fund (The Clavius Fund) supports the interdisciplinary engagement of faculty as they develop a greater understanding of the relatedness of knowledge by working across disciplines and institutional or departmental borders. The Interdisciplinary Seminar Fund (or Clavius Fund) is designed to promote interdisciplinary engagement and to foster a greater sense of colleagueship across departmental lines by creating settings in whereby diverse faculty can explore a topic of mutual interest from divergent perspectives.
Faculty seeking funding for proposals are encouraged to provide a statement describing how their proposed project shall accomplish one or more of the following goals:
- Strengthen cross-disciplinary and inter-departmental collaborations in scholarship, teaching and learning.
- Promote the integration or incorporation of diverse intellectual, social and cultural perspectives into curricula;
- Advance the development and/or implementation of interdisciplinary or integrative pedagogies;
- Foster the development of integrative models of knowledge;
- Facilitate the development of student learning outcomes regarding integrative learning and in assessing integrative teaching approaches.
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Fund is coordinated by the Provost's Office in conjunction with the Faculty Development Board. Each successful seminar proposal will receive a grant of $1,500 which may be used to promote campus-wide interdisciplinary engagement.
Distinguished Professors Award
Every other year, eligible full-time tenured faculty may apply and compete for Distinguished Professor Award. The successful applicant will be an eminent and exemplary university citizen who has enriched the institution and the academy through the highest levels of excellence in teaching, research and service for at least six years after the attainment of full professorship.
Distinguished Professors are entitled to an annual stipend of $5,000 ($25,000 over five years) for their research, academic travel and other scholarly pursuits.
More information about applications and nominations is available by calling the Provost's Office at 941-7520.
Decanal Faculty Development Funds
Faculty can apply for limited professional development funds through their respective deans. Ordinarily, deans use these limited funds to fund emergency or ad hoc requests for professional development that do not normally fall within the parameters, guidelines or timelines of the more routine professional development options. These funds may not be used for purposes covered by the Faculty Travel Fund.
Miscellaneous Opportunities for Professional Growth
Academic Year Released Time
Released time is a reduction in teaching load granted for curriculum development, research projects, or other special projects that are recommended by the Department Chairperson to the appropriate Dean. The Dean makes the final decision. The request should be made at least one year before the academic year in which the released time is to be granted.
Sabbatical Leaves
A sabbatical leave is a release from normal faculty responsibilities for a specified period of time and for a specific academic purpose from which both the faculty member and the University benefit. A sabbatical may be taken for one full academic year or for one regular semester. A faculty member is eligible for sabbatical leave during or after the seventh year of service dating back to initial appointment or a previous sabbatical. (For example, newer faculty are eligible for sabbatical in the seventh year, hence would ordinarily apply in the sixth year of service.)
Please note that availability of a sabbatical leave may depend upon the department's ability to handle the course load during the faculty member's absence.
Normally a faculty member on a one year sabbatical leave receives one half of his/her salary. As of September 1, 2006 a faculty member may request a greater salary supplement up to 70% for a one-year sabbatical. A justification for the request may be made to the Provost/VPAA through the Faculty Research Committee at the time the sabbatical application is filed. (See The Faculty Handbook for more information.)
Special Chair Support and Compensation
A department chairperson will receive, upon successful application for a sabbatical leave, two summer research stipends in lieu of summer teaching if said chairperson has served at least two consecutive terms immediately prior to the start of the sabbatical.
Leaves of Absence
A leave of absence is an uncompensated release from teaching for a specific period of time, normally one year. Leaves may be granted to faculty who have been invited to participate in special projects or visiting professorships, or who are completing degree studies elsewhere. Leaves may also be granted for personal emergencies. In all cases, granting a leave is dependent upon the ability of the department to handle the course load during the faculty member's absence. (See The Faculty Handbook for more information.)
Tuition Re第一吃瓜网
Faculty receive, as part of their benefit package, full-tuition scholarships for any 第一吃瓜网 catalog course.
Faculty Educational Loan Program
The Faculty Educational Loan Program is intended to provide assistance for full-time, tenure-track faculty who need assistance with the tuition cost of their doctoral studies. Faculty who wish to apply for such assistance must follow the published procedures for making an application to this program and complete the corollary loan application and promissory note, both of which are available in the Payroll Office. The guidelines and procedures for this policy are listed under the Academic Policy Handbook on the Provost's website.
Office of Research Support and Sponsored Programs (ORSSP)
Internal Research Grants
The University offers faculty the opportunity to obtain research funding through various Internal Research Grants. These grants are intended to assist faculty with meeting expenses related to their scholarly research with the exception of travel to professional meetings and payment of faculty salary. Of particular interest are proposals that have the potential for securing future extramural funding. Expenses related to scholarly research (excluding the faculty member's salary and travel to professional meetings) are eligible for funding up to $2,000 for an individual proposal or $3,000 for a collaborative project.
Faculty Grant Writing Support
To promote faculty scholarship, the University, through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) provides support for faculty in securing extramural funding for research activities, including assistance in the grant writing process. ORSP also provides limited financial support for faculty engaged in grant writing. ORSP helps faculty identify funding sources and provides assistance with proposal development, writing, budget preparation as well as support during the sub第一吃瓜网, review and approval process. Throughout the year, ORSP presents various workshops, including workshops for new faculty, on grant-writing skills and other research-related topics.
Further information about the ORSP grant-writing workshops can be accessed at
Presidents Fellowship for Summer Research
The 第一吃瓜网 will offer seven undergraduate students summer research grant awards, two of these will be dedicated specifically to projects that stem from the Humanities (one award) and Social Service (one award). The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs will administer the program. In addition to the faculty mentor honorarium of $1500, $3,000 will be provided to the student, with an additional stipend of $1500 to cover the cost of a room on campus for the ten-week period, if needed, and $500 is allocated for materials and/or student travel. While it is generally expected that a faculty member would serve as the mentor for only one project, in the event that one faculty member is serving as a mentor for more than one awarded project they will receive one honorarium.
Undergraduate students who will continue full-time undergraduate study at The 第一吃瓜网 are eligible for a summer research stipend. Given that the proposals are of the same quality preference will be given to those candidates who have not received this award previously.
Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.00 at the time of proposal sub第一吃瓜网 and at least a B+ in the student's major. (Students who do not meet the criteria may also be considered for an award on the recommendation of their faculty mentor.) To receive the award, students must be free of academic and disciplinary restrictions at the end of the Spring semester.
Application forms and guidelines are available on the ORSP web site at
Research as a High Impact Practice (rHIP)
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is pleased to announce the availability of funding to promote high-quality faculty-mentored experiences in research and scholarship for our undergraduate students. Proposals are expected to support new or ongoing faculty student research projects that focus on the creation of an undergraduate research/scholarship experience for the student resulting in student learning outcomes, such as inquire and analysis, critical and creative thinking, and foundations and skills for lifelong learning.
To this end, the proposal submitted should be a collaborative effort between the student and the faculty member, with the student providing a project description, and the faculty member providing specific information about potential learning outcomes. Students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. Although research project funding needs vary greatly between disciplines, we expect that the average award will be approximately $500. Requests that exceed that amount will require justification.
Announcements for applications are due in the Fall. See ORSP website for due date. Please contact Brooke Leonard at brooke.leonard@scranton.edu for further information.
Center for Teaching Excellence
Teaching Enhancement Grants
Grants of up to $1,500 are available to full-time faculty interested in enhancing their teaching skills. The grants can be used for a variety of pedagogical purposes such as purchasing teaching materials, attending a conference to improve teaching, sponsoring a workshop for faculty on campus, redesigning a course, and creating an interdisciplinary course. Funding is prioritized to support classroom teaching pedagogy.
Teaching materials/equipment purchased with grant funding reside in the faculty member's department. Successful applicants will be asked to do a workshop for the CTE in the future.
Application materials and guidelines can be found on the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) web site at
Library
Information Literacy Stipend
The Weinberg Memorial Library offers five stipends of $500.00 to faculty interested in working with Reference Librarians on integrating information literacy outcomes into their courses. The stipends will be to develop information literacy skills for students. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Competency Standards will be used as a guide to help faculty integrate information literacy into their courses.
More information about applications and guidelines will be posted on the Libraries Website.
Affordable Learning Implementation Grants
The library awards $1,000 Affordable Learning Implementation Grants to successful full-time faculty applicants that commit to replacing for-cost course materials with Open Educational Resources (OER) or appropriately licensed Library resources that are free for students to use. Award money does not need to be used for purchasing course materials. The Library also reserves up to $200 for each successful applicant to recommend the purchasing of resources to be added to the Library’s collection that can be used by students for the Affordable Learning course. Upon completion of the course, recipients submit a report documenting the impact that the Affordable Learning Implementation Grant had on their course(s) and if they are planning to continue using OER or Affordable Learning materials again. Final reports are submitted to the Dean of the Library and will be published on the Library’s website. For more information, email affordablelearning@scranton.edu or visit the Affordable Learning website at /academics/wml/infolit/oer-grants.shtml.