QEP Innovative Teaching Grants

Pathways to Resilience is excited to announce our new QEP Innovative Teaching Grants program for faculty.

The Pathways to Resilience QEP invites faculty to apply for funding to implement innovative  teaching approaches in new or existing courses to advance students’ climate literacy and response-ability, which we’re defining as the capacity to participate in positive climate actions in our professions and communities. Proposals can focus on courses offered in the Fall ’25 and/or Spring ’26 semesters, and proposed innovations may include, but are not limited to: 

• supporting faculty ‘clusters’ or ‘hives’ to create one or more collaborative courses that leverage climate-related knowledge/expertise of faculty across departments and colleges
• integrating community-engaged learning
• integrating hands-on experiential learning
• supporting climate-focused guest speakers
• developing art projects, exhibits, or performances

Applicants may request up to $5,000; we anticipate the average award will be around $2,500.

The current proposal cycle deadline is May 2, 2025—apply for funding for AY 2025-2026 through InfoReady here.

QEP Innovative Teaching Funds support student learning through climate-focused activities associated with courses by covering costs such as: 

• Course buyout or overload payments for collaborating faculty
• Costs of implementing service-learning, community-based research, or other community-engaged learning approaches (e.g., compensating a community partner organization for their time to work with your class)
• Costs of implementing CURE’s (course-based undergraduate research experiences) or RAMP’s (research to action multidisciplinary projects), or other research focused learning (e.g., purchasing research supplies)
• Equipment/supplies to be used by students for a climate-focused class project
• Registration fees and travel costs for taking a class on a climate-focused field trip or to a climate-focused competition or program
• Grant may cover these costs for the faculty member(s) and students. 
• Note: You must follow university procedures for student travel, including submitting a Student Travel Form to Student Affairs, submitting the Student Payments for Cost of Attendance Reporting Form to the Tax Compliance Office, and completing Chrome River travel authorization(s) and expense report(s). 

Limitations–QEP Innovative Teaching Funds cannot be used for: 

• Food, beverages, or other expenses that are not allowable uses of state funds
• Faculty travel for conferences (Exception: You can be considered for QEP Innovative Teaching Funds if you are taking students with you and the primary purpose of the travel is student learning rather than supporting your scholarship.)

Process and timing: 

• The call for proposals opens Monday, March 31, 2025. 
• The proposal deadline is Friday, May 2, 2025. 
• The Review Committee will review proposals between Friday, May 2 and Friday, May 23, 2025.
• The QEP team will communicate funding decisions by Friday, May 23, 2025. 
• Grant awardees may begin spending budgets no earlier than July 1, 2025 and must spend down their funding by May 15, 2026. (Note: State funds that aren’t spent by fiscal year end will not roll to the next fiscal year. Spending your grant funds by mid-May 2026 allows for processing time before the fiscal year ends.)

Proposal Requirements 

Grant applicants must provide the following in order to have a complete proposal:

I. ABSTRACT: An abstract that briefly (max. 200 words) describes the innovative teaching project and how it will advance students’ climate literacy and/or climate response-ability (defined above)

II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A more detailed project description (max. 1000 words) explaining the innovative teaching project purpose (why), faculty participant(s) and class(es) (who), process (how), and timeline (when). In addition, please elaborate on: 

1. How your teaching innovations will advance students’ climate literacy and/or climate response-ability (defined above)
2. Provide the names and affiliations of all collaborators on the proposed project
3. Indicate how your proposed project connects to one or more of the QEP’s four Student Learning Outcomes, which come from App State’s General Education program: 
   • Systemic Drivers of Global Change: Students will evaluate systemic factors that produce local to global inequalities and environmental problems in order to advocate for appropriate responses. 
   • Global Self Awareness: Students will evaluate the effect of human agency on social, cultural, and natural environments. 
   • Consequences of Global Change: Students will evaluate the effects of global change on local environments. 
   • Response-Ability: Students will evaluate the effects of social, economic, and environmental problems on communities and cultivate a capacity to actively respond to these challenges. 

III. PROJECT BUDGET: 

1. What is your total project budget, how much funding are you requesting from QEP, and what do you want to use it for? Please break your request into budget categories; see above information on what can and cannot be funded. 
2. What additional source(s) and amounts of funding (including ‘in kind’) in support of the proposed innovative teaching project, if any, have you secured and/or intend to seek? 
3. Project fund/account(s): What is the fund # (must be a state fund) and account(s) into which you’re hoping to accept these grant funds? Please note:

• • Your department will receive the funds and then you will spend them down by working with your department’s staff. 
  • You must request 7.65% FICA in addition to any line item for a salary account. (For example, if requesting a $1,000 one-time pay, you must request $1,076.50 total for this OTP.) Your proposal may not exceed $5,000 including FICA.

IV. POST AWARD – PROJECT FINAL REPORT: If I receive funding, I acknowledge that: 

1. I will work with my department administrative assistant to complete the necessary paperwork for my funding or reimbursement. All funds need to be expended by May 15, 2026.
2. These are university funds and all use of the money must comply with university spending guidelines and follow standard university policies and procedures, including travel.
3. Any equipment, materials, and supplies purchased with these funds are university property. 
4. If I am unable to expend all of the awarded funds, I will inform Laura Johnston (johnstonl@appstate.edu) in Academic Affairs.
5. I will complete my final report by 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 2026. Failure to submit the final report will be factored into future consideration for QEP funding.

Please contact Shea Tuberty (tubertysr@appstate.edu) with questions.