Past Opportunities

• Who Should Apply:  Full-time tenured, tenure-track, and teaching/non-tenure-track faculty from any/all SAS units, across all divisions.
• Deadline Date: June 9, 2025
• Funding: Up to $30,000 may be requested to support initial course development work.

In furtherance of the SAS Strategic Plan, SAS is proud to announce the Multi-Disciplinary Course Program. This program will support the creation of innovative approaches to teaching multi and cross-disciplinary lower-level courses that further SAS’s educational mission to inspire our students’ intellectual growth and curiosity while preparing them to become informed and engaged leaders ready for the challenges of our quickly evolving world.

Recognizing the strength in SAS’s disciplinary diversity and depth of faculty expertise, the Strategic Plan calls for the creation of opportunities for faculty from different disciplines and divisions, whose paths otherwise rarely cross at Rutgers, to collaborate as educators. The Multi-Disciplinary Course Program will further this goal by supporting cross-discipline collaborations to create innovative new multi-disciplinary courses.

Proposals are invited to support the development and initial offering of courses that are:

• Broadly accessible to first-year students, and open to all Rutgers undergraduates
• Organized around a focal topic that fits within one or more of the Strategic Plan’s four Academic Themes
• Multi-disciplinary: co-taught by two or more faculty members (full-time tenure-track or non-tenure-track faculty) from different SAS departments who bring distinct disciplinary approaches to the course’s focal topic into dialogue with each other
• Taught in person,^[1] with medium-to-large enrollments (minimum 50 students in an initial offering, growing to 100 or more students in later offerings)

We encourage faculty to be creative in developing or adapting models that achieve the Strategic Plan’s multidisciplinary instructional goals. Proposals for courses that are likely to be certified for one or more Core goals, and courses that are simultaneously co-taught (with instructors actively participating in multiple course sessions[2]), are especially encouraged.

Pairs or teams of faculty members should submit an application through the SAS proposals system including the following information:

1. A jointly authored proposal of no more than three pages that includes:

• Proposed course information: course title, department(s) that will co-offer the course, planned course number (which should be introductory, typically at the 100- or 200-level), and which Strategic Plan Academic Theme(s) the course addresses most directly
• A joint teaching statement articulating how you will work together, including:
  •         How will you explain to students why this course is important, and why you are teaching it together rather than individually
  •         How do your disciplinary approaches to this course contrast? How do you envision interacting with each other to place your approaches in conversation? How do you envision engaging students in this conversation? (Through class activities? Through assignments? In other ways?)
  •         Research indicates that course organization, communication between faculty, and consistency in grading expectations are common challenges when co-teaching. How will these potential challenges be addressed? How will the effectiveness of the course be evaluated, both during the semester and after the course is completed?
• Is there any support from the SAS Teaching and Learning Team that would be helpful as you develop this course?

2.  A budget and rationale for course development, and plans to address short-term (first two times the course is offered) and long-term needs. We understand that co-teaching poses special challenges in terms of course planning and coordination. We ask applicants to propose support that fits their plans and contexts.

• Describe your expected timeline for the development, approval, and offering of the course.
• Initial course development work: specify and provide a rationale for support during the initial development of the course. Please consider items such as courseload reduction, summer salary, hiring help, etc. Up to $30,000 may be proposed.
• Support for first two course offerings: provide rationale for any unique needs anticipated during the first two times the course is offered. Items might include hiring a TA, grader, or undergraduate assistant(s); course enhancement expenses; materials/equipment, etc. Budget amounts are not required.
• Sustainability plan: explain how the course will transition to being supported through regular SAS processes (i.e.¸standard budget allocations) beginning with the third time it is taught. If you are requesting ongoing support for the course, explain and justify.
  Please note: as long as courses offered through this program enroll at a minimum of 50 times the number of instructors during a given semester, faculty co-teaching courses through this program will receive full credit for that teaching.

 Submissions must be made by June 9, 2025, through the SAS proposal submission portal. (Deadline extended to Monday 6/9!)

^[1] Creatively designed hybrid models may be considered.

^[2] Research on co-teaching suggests that “a simultaneous co-teaching approach—where both partners were active in each class session—improved experiences for both students and instructors” (Morelock et al, 186). See Morelock, John R., et al. "Power, perceptions, and relationships: A model of co-teaching in higher education." College Teaching 65.4 (2017): 182-191.; Dugan, Kimberly, and Margaret Letterman. "Student appraisals of collaborative teaching." College Teaching 56.1 (2008): 11-15.; and Jones, Francis, and Sara Harris. "Benefits and drawbacks of using multiple instructors to teach single courses." College teaching 60.4 (2012): 132-139.

• Who Should Apply:  Full-time tenured and tenure track faculty from any/all SAS units, across all divisions; non-tenure-track faculty and non-SAS faculty on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus may participate as co-investigators.
• Deadline Date: March 28, 2025
• Funding: Up to $70,000 may be requested.

The SAS Strategic Plan  lists four academic themes that build on existing strengths:

• An Intelligent World: Artificial Intelligence in Education, Technology, and Society
• An Ethical World:  Knowledge, Power, and Justice
• A Shared World: Expanding and Communicating the Frontiers of Human Knowledge
• A Healthy and Sustainable World: Health, Well-Being, and Environment

Funding to support research in one or more of these themes is offered through this call.  Opportunities related to advancing undergraduate instruction in these themes will follow. 

Funding is available to individuals who are conducting research at a novel intersection of disciplines, or to groups of faculty members working together to advance research stemming from a unique junction of their individual programs of scholarship. In either case, it is desirable for the research supported by this internal funding mechanism to lead to the submission of successful proposals for external funding, to the extent that such opportunities are available for the type of work.   In the case of collaborative proposals, it is our hope that this funding mechanism will help to build new connections among SAS scholars across units and career stages (which can facilitate informal mentoring).

Individuals or teams of faculty members should submit a document of no more than three pages that describes:

• Which theme(s) the project addresses
• Rationale - How the work will advance the goals of the SAS Strategic Plan, including relevance to the academic theme(s).
• What will be accomplished and the timeframe for the work (funding will be available by April 15, 2025, and must be spent by December 31, 2026).
• Outcomes anticipated, including any specific plans for submission of proposals for external funding.
• An itemized budget and rationale for each of the anticipated expenses.  Projects may include faculty and/or student collaborators, but salary support will only be provided for individuals with primary appointments in SAS departments.

Submissions must be made by March 28, 2025 through the SAS proposal submission portal.

Each faculty member may be involved in the submission of no more than one proposal as PI or Co-I.  While individuals in other appointment categories may be involved in the work, the PI must be a tenured or tenure track SAS faculty member.

Reporting Requirements: Each funded project team will be required to present an overview of their project and its outcomes at an SAS Strategic Plan showcase event to be held in February 2027.  Each team will also be required to submit a 2-page report of what was accomplished and its impact by February 1, 2027.

• Who Should Apply: Full-time tenured and tenure track faculty from any/all SAS units, across all divisions; non-tenure-track faculty and non-SAS faculty on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus may participate as co-investigators.
• Deadline Date: December 1, 2025
• Funding: Up to $70,000 may be requested.

The SAS Strategic Plan lists four academic themes that build on existing strengths:

• An Intelligent World: Artificial Intelligence in Education, Technology, and Society
• An Ethical World: Knowledge, Power, and Justice
• A Shared World: Expanding and Communicating the Frontiers of Human Knowledge
• A Healthy and Sustainable World: Health, Well-Being, and Environment

Funding to support research in one or more of these themes is offered through this call. 

Funding is available for faculty working together from at least two SAS departments, and we encourage collaborations across disciplines that do not traditionally work together.  It is desirable for the research supported by this internal funding mechanism to lead to the submission of successful proposals for external funding, to the extent that such opportunities are available for the type of work. It is our hope that this funding mechanism will help to build new connections among SAS scholars across units and career stages (which can facilitate informal mentoring).

Individuals or teams of faculty members should submit a document of no more than three pages that describes:

• Which theme(s) the project addresses
• Rationale - How the work will advance the goals of the SAS Strategic Plan, including relevance to the academic theme(s).
• What will be accomplished and the timeframe for the work (funding will be available by January 1, 2026, and must be spent by June 30, 2027).
• Outcomes anticipated, including any specific plans for submission of proposals for external funding.
• An itemized budget and rationale for each of the anticipated expenses.  Projects may include faculty and/or student collaborators, but salary support will only be provided for individuals with primary appointments in SAS departments.

Submissions must be made by December 1, 2025 through the SAS proposal submission portal.

Each faculty member may be involved in the submission of no more than one proposal as PI or Co-I.  While individuals in other appointment categories may be involved in the work, the PI must be a tenured or tenure track SAS faculty member.

Reporting Requirements: Each funded project team will be required to present an overview of their project and progress to date at an SAS Strategic Plan showcase event to be held in February 2027.  Each team will also be required to submit a 2-page report of what was accomplished and its impact by September 1, 2027.