DePauw and 7 Other Colleges Share $2.5 Million Grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
April 23, 2003
April 23, 2003, Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw University is one of eight colleges and universities that will share in a four-year, $2.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support faculty career enhancement. The grant will be used to address concerns about time, intellectual growth and professional development among faculty members at DePauw University, Denison University, Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina), Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, California), Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont), Rhodes College (Memphis, Tennessee), Scripps College (Claremont, California) and Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York). The Mellon Foundation has also made a separate $650,000 grant to each of four pairs of relatively nearby colleges in the cluster to support similar, but more local, programs to serve these objectives. This is the third cluster to receive a grant under the Mellon Foundation's faculty career enhancement awards program.
“These eight, national liberal arts colleges, and many other institutions of higher learning across the nation, share a concern, one that this generous grant from The Andrew J. Mellon Foundation addresses and, I'm confident, will ameliorate,” says Neal B. Abraham, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at DePauw (seen at right). “The demands on faculty members at liberal arts colleges and universities are greater than they've ever been – they develop new courses, revise current courses and teach more interactively; 
they meet frequently with students before and after class, they engage in scholarly and creative work and other professional activities, and they must continue to increase their understanding of their disciplines and the latest pedagogical strategies. Finding the time to fulfill those many obligations is a difficult, and sometimes impossible, task. This grant will allow DePauw and its seven partners to creatively address these needs and will significantly expand the range of opportunities for faculty career enhancement.”
Three categories have been developed for possible funding under the grant, including:
- A career enhancement fund to be administered by the chief academic officer at each campus for purposes not covered by current faculty development programs. Projects could include visits to a research colleague or mentor, visits by a mentor to campus, and opportunities to give faculty members time for continuing professional education.
- Awards for projects of benefit to particular faculty members, with proposals to be adjudicated by a committee of deans and faculty representatives from the eight colleges. Projects in this category might seek $10,000 to $25,000. A total of 8 to 12 grants will be made annually, and several proposals would be nominated by each campus (likely by the Faculty Development Committee in the case of DePauw). Ideas for possible funding include extensions of support to permit faculty members to take year-long sabbaticals, special sabbatical supplementary expenses, pre-doctoral and post-doctoral collaborators,
seminars or courses for faculty members offered by visitors or local faculty members, and replacements for those developing new courses or participating in team-taught courses. - Funding for inter-institutional initiatives, such as a group of faculty members from the cluster schools traveling together to an international site of mutual professional interest, an inter-institutional faculty seminar convening at various of the eight campuses or other sites around the country, or inter-institutional groups convening to share in developing or assessing new interdisciplinary programs. Proposals for these projects would be submitted to a review committee of deans and faculty members from the eight schools.
“This award will provide opportunities for our already very accomplished faculty members to develop and refine their teaching techniques and to increase their opportunities to engage in the intellectual community of DePauw, the seven other campuses, and the world at large,” Dr. Abraham says. 
“A survey of DePauw faculty members suggests that faculty members select and remain in careers at liberal arts colleges because of the rewards of working with students and the opportunities for continued growth and development in conjunction with other faculty members. Faculty members view such continuing growth and development as the very lifeblood of their professional lives and careers, it is essential for them to sustain their effectiveness and energy in their classes. This grant gives us a significant opportunity that will further enhance our faculty members and the quality of teaching and learning at DePauw University.”