Please submit your Faculty Development Fellowship applications for Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and academic year 2024-2025 by December 5, 2023. If you have questions about the leave process or your eligibility for leave, contact Brenda Ensor at bensor2@unl.edu.
Applications must contain
- The Application for Faculty Development Fellowship, with all appropriate signatures. Faculty members holding formal joint appointments require the signature of both chairs or directors.
- A statement by the applicant (three page suggested maximum) describing the proposed project. This statement should include a description of the work to be undertaken during the proposed leave and an explanation of the benefits of the proposed leave to the university and the faculty member.
- If there are multiple applications from the same unit, a statement ranking the applications and providing a rationale for the rankings in terms of the criteria shown below. The statement should come from the chair or director.
- A statement from the chair or director indicating whether the leave(s) can be accommodated without disruption to the research and/or instructional missions of the unit.
NOTE: A PAF is not required with the application. It will be requested after the leave is approved.
Award criteria
- Excellent scholarship (including research and creative activity and/or instructional development) is the primary factor in judging proposals.
- The FDF proposal must present a clear goal and a clear plan (including expected outcomes).
- It is important that faculty are able to explore new areas and to investigate ideas which potentially have a big pay-off but may not work out. Thus, proposals for risky projects may rate highly provided the potential for significant outcomes can be demonstrated.
- The benefits of the leave to the university and the faculty member must be explained in terms of departmental, college, and campus priorities.
The college is allotted one leave for every ten eligible faculty. We will accept requests for leaves beyond this for a department but you should be sure to indicate how the teaching program will be maintained if the leaves are all granted.
Faculty who have held full-time appointments at UNL for six years or more at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor, or at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor of practice are eligible for participation in the Faculty Development Fellowship program. Faculty are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity throughout their careers. Six full years of service must elapse between Faculty Development Fellowships.
As stated in the Faculty Development Fellowship policy, these leaves are to be awarded competitively and must be awarded on the basis of expected benefits to the university and to the faculty member. The primary evaluation of applications will remain in the departments. The Dean’s Office will review the applications to ensure that they meet the above criteria.