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.