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2007-08 IU Northwest Center for Regional Excellence
Call for Proposals In Cultural Discovery and Learning, December 2006

Contacts: Neil Goodman, Chair of Curatoriate, 980-6581 ; TaShena Lollis, Interim Assistant Director of Center for Regional Excellence, 981-5629, . Lindenwood 420

The IU Northwest Center for Regional Excellence announces its 2007-08 round of funding in the area of Cultural Discovery and Learning. Since 2003, the Center is pleased to have been able to fund IU Northwest faculty and their student interns, community partners and project staff in Cultural Discovery and Learning for $112,108, and in Sustainable Regional Vitality with $154,655, for a total of $266,763 in research and creativity grants, through a Lilly Opportunity Grant (2004-06) and Trustees Commitment to Excellence funds . The broad purposes of the Cultural Discovery and Learning area of excellence and its focus on Arts and Culture within IU Northwest's Unique Identity goals are defined at the Center for Regional Excellence website, www.iun.edu/~cre

Eligibility : Tenure-Track and Tenured IU Northwest Faculty and IU Northwest Lecturers (and their IU Northwest collaborators and/or external partners)

Period of Fellowship and Project : Fiscal Year 2007-08: July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008

Deadline for Application : on or before 5:00 p.m., Friday, March 2, 2007

Electronic Submissions Only to , (not to exceed 4 pages in length, plus a one-page line-item budget detailing personnel, student in/externships, external partners, materials, supplies, etc.). Also include a CV for the Faculty Project Director and co-directors, and a short disclosure if you have applied for or been granted funding from any other source for this project.

Funds Available: In FY 2007-08, approximately $20,000 is available for scholarly projects/activities that must be completed by May 15, 2008. Funding is from Trustees' Commitment to Excellence Funds, which requires that the Center only fund projects that directly benefit undergraduate student learning. Because of limited funding, no faculty stipends will be awarded.

Fellowship Requirements :

1. The Cultural Discovery and Learning fellow(s) will conduct research/creative activities in a university and community partnership that explores our regional cultures and history through diverse perspectives and forms of expression. Using traditional and new media, IU Northwest and the broader community celebrate diversity in all of its dimensions through a “culture of creativity” by supporting research and creative projects that serve and tell the story of the regions we serve, in six broad areas: Art and Historical Exhibits, Education and Exchange Programs, Humanities and Cultural Studies, Public Work, Research and Consulting Services, and Performance Art. [These are meant to be broad rather than narrow, inclusive rather than exclusive: the project may arise out of any discipline(s) as viewed through the lens of arts and culture.] The Curatoriate seeks to build on IU Northwest's excellent cultural programs and to forge alliances with other cultural loci, and to establish a site for lifelong learning in the cultures and history of northwest Indiana . As Trustees Commitment to Excellence Funds are intended to benefit undergraduate student learning, proposals with direct benefits to undergraduate students have priority. Indirect benefits to students might include enhancement of the campus environment, or integration of your project into course materials.) Priority is given to new proposals over continuation of previously funded projects and to those with plans for additional external funding in the future.
   
2. Applicants may propose any project that meets the guiding principles of Cultural Discovery and Learning, detailed below. In this round of funding, the Curatoriate also encourages collaborative proposals that promote arts and culture spaces, virtual cultural environments, arts and cultural facilities and landscapes, on campus and in the communities we serve. Priority will also be given to proposals that have potential for attracting additional funding externally. Information about the principles can also be found at http://www.iun.edu/~cre/cdl . Consult any member of the Curatoriate , before the deadline March 2, 2007, if you have questions.
   
3. Proposals with Service-Learning components have priority. Please visit http://www.iun.edu/~cetl/servicelearning/index.shtml for an understanding of service-learning and other forms of experiential learning. For assistance contact Ju Park, Coordinator of Service-Learning at 980-6642, or
4. Applicants' project proposals will be evaluated by the Curatoriate. The approved projects and appointment of Fellows will be announced no later than Thursday, April 5, 2007.
   
5. The selected Fellow(s) must be able to complete the project(s) by June 30, 2008. If, however, the project is to develop a major program or seek a major grant proposal for a longer-term project deliverable only after June 30, 2008, the program plan or grant proposal must be complete and ready to submit to the Curatoriate or funding agency no later than June 30, 2008. Funds must be spent by May 15, 2008.
   
6. A written report detailing the work of the fellowship is due to the Curatoriate no later than July 15, 2008, submitted electronically only to .
   
7. Awarded Faculty Fellows are required to present the results/findings/work in progress of their projects at an on-campus research and creativity conference sponsored by the Center for Regional Excellence during spring semester 2008, with date to be determined.

Special Notes: If your project involves undergraduate student research, you may also be eligible for funding through the Undergraduate Research Fund, http://www.research.iu.edu/funding/internal_s.html . Once at the site scroll down to “Regional Campus Research Program,” then click IU Northwest.

Proposal Scoring Criteria

Principles Guiding Initiatives for the Center for Regional Excellence
A major goal of the Center for Regional Excellence is to promote a culture of creativity through support for research and other projects that sustain IU Northwest's Areas of Excellence. IU Northwest's two designated Areas of Excellence defining its Unique Identity are Cultural Discovery and Learning and Sustainable Regional Vitality , both broadly conceived and overlapping concepts. Proposals submitted to the Curatoriate, or Advisory Board for Cultural Discovery and Learning, need to meet three Center principles:

1. Initiatives for Cultural Discovery and Learning serve the Center's mission as “a university and community partnership that explores our regional cultures and history through diverse perspectives and forms of expression. Using traditional and new media, this collaboration for cultural discovery and learning, with Indiana University Northwest as the base, initiates and sustains cultural projects, programming and events that serve and tell the story of the seven-county region of northwest Indiana.”
   
2. Initiatives for Cultural Discovery and Learning foster partnerships and collaborations among academic disciplines, students, and units within Indiana University Northwest and with the community.
   
3. Initiatives for Cultural Discovery and Learning identify outcomes that sustain excellence in Cultural Discovery and Learning and explain the benefits that these outcomes will generate both for IU Northwest, its students, and for the Northwest Indiana community.

In addition to these three principles that guide work in Cultural Discovery and Learning, the Center offers specific Guidelines for proposing Initiatives:

1. Proposals for Cultural Discovery and Learning clearly explain how the initiative will directly or indirectly benefit student learning, by enhancing their learning, environment, or their lives;
2. Proposals clearly define their scope and activities and the initiative's sustainability;  
3. Proposals explain how initiatives involving studies, findings, and other outcomes of the initiatives would be disseminated to relevant audiences;
4. Proposals explain how the initiative will contribute to the achievement of Indiana University Northwest's mission and the development of community in Northwest Indiana ;
5. Proposals detail plans for assessing in a timely way the effectiveness of the initiative.