Advancing the Humanities, FAQs

Advancing the Humanities through Technology at Community Colleges
FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS

Are adjunct faculty eligible to be team members?

They are, if they are an "integral part of the institution" and if the school can demonstrate in the proposal a "substantial record of commitment" on the part of the adjunct to the school and vice versa.

We are a two-year component of the larger college, and like at our community college counterparts, the emphasis at our college is on teaching. I wondered if if we would be eligible to apply.

Yes, but the team members must all be from the two-year institution.

I am already participating in the project as a mentor? Can my college still apply with a project?

Yes. As long as you are not part of the new proposal in any way.

Is it possible for an institution to send a team of more than three persons to participate in the project?

Yes. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The college will have to agree to pay all expenses for the additional observer, and it is expected that the observer be a very senior administrator.

Does project participation begin at the beginning of the academic year in 2000, or does it begin with the conference in December 1999?

Your project would really begin before the conference, with the academic year starting in 1999 because you would have to put your team together, formulate a proposal, etc., get the proper campus authorities lined up.

Also, I want to come to the conference regardless of the grant. Do you have a conference web site I can access in order to register?

Sorry. Conference participation is limited to the participating project teams only.

How clear an idea do we need to have about what we would do to implement technology?

The clearer your idea of an application of technology, the better, especially when it comes to our selection of teams for actual participation. At the conference, you will formulate further plans and be exposed to more possibilities and that might allow you to alter your original idea (But not by much.)

Do you have any examples of innovative programs that we might look at?

See some of the Useful links listed for this project, and also check for projects by the participants and staff.

Would it be possible for 2 faculty to work on different projects, or must they work on the same project? Should the project be course specific, or would you prefer projects that are more general?

Your team will propose one project and everyone on the team should only be working on that one project. This does not mean that only the team will be working on that project at the college. It would be great if the team led a far larger collaboration of faculty at the college. The proposal may, or may not be, course specific. Please be aware, however, that projects with limited impact, or a small audience, will have a lesser chance of being funded.

Is the Association concerned with individual courses in the humanities or with broader departmental approaches to integrating technology?

Both are okay, but I think those projects with the broadest impact stand the best chance of participation..

I see a number of mentors and scholars with experience in history, art and languages, but no one specifically in philosophy or religion. This makes me wonder whether the benefits gained from the project will accrue largely or mainly to disciplines other than philosophy or religion? What do you think?

The project is not history focused. If you look at all the participants, you will see a variety, but alas, no philosophy. The technology uses that we will be describing, however, are not discipline specific, but could easily be applied to philosophy and/or religion. For example, the creation of a large content web site like the Valley of the Shadow project is certainly a model for something that you might think about for philosophy or ethics .

Could the funds be used to implement online enrichment in a number of different courses?

Yes. As long as you are introducing either new humanities content or altering traditional humanities content.

Is funding available for release time for faculty involved in the project?

No. A further explanation follows below.

What equipment is required, and if it is equipment that we do not have, is funding available for purchasing that equipment?

The equipment (hardware, software, etc.) required will depend on the specific nature of your proposed project. The grant will not fund the purchase of equipment, but your college can.

Would their be monetary support for software? Hardware? necessary to implement the program?

There is no support in the grant for anything that needs to be done at your school as part of the project, including hardware and software. That needs to be provided by your school, and it needs to be a firm commitment that shows up in the project proposal.

Is the action plan the plan for the team and its proposed humanities project using technology, or is the plan supposed to implemented college-wide?

Either. I would suggest college-wide, because the more impact that your proposal promises, the better chance your team has of being selected. Besides, if your project involves the web, how could a project not have college-wide implications.

What kind of budget resources are you looking for a college to agree to fund?

For example, I would expect release time for faculty. I would also expect any hardware or software that is needed to also be funded by the college. Resources would also include the allocation of technology personnel as necessary.

I would like to know if you can estimate how much time this project will take in the spring. I would like to ask for release time of one class if there is enough work involved.

I definitely think that you will have plenty of work to do in the spring implementing your project, and I think that it would show a real commitment on the part of your college if it agreed to fund you at least one course release time to work on the project.

"On-line budget authority." Does that mean the individual has supervisory control over the internal, administrative process of getting courses on-line for distance education?

"On-line budget authority" means something far less sinister than you have made it out to be. All it means is that an individual has authority to commit and/or budget the expenditure of funds, i.e., a division chair, director, provost, president.

Were you planning on reserving a block of rooms at a hotel/motel near the university for the participants?

We are reserving a block of rooms. The grant will pay for all travel expenses for the two faculty members, but the college will have to pay for the administrator.

Can you please clarify what credentials/qualifications you're seeking for the "faculty team member with technology experience"?

Essentially, the technology experience of the faculty member should match the project. If the project will involve significant web-development of materials, then the faculty member should have considerable experience, not just a passing interest, in web page authorship, either using html or an html editor. If the project involves a CD-ROM, then someone on the team should have experience working with CD-ROM design/creation. If the project involves distance learning, then the faculty member should have distance learning experience.

We teach at an institution whose primary mission and purpose is instructional. We each teach 15-17 credit hours per semester. This limits our time for research and scholarly publications. Consequently we have not published any scholarly papers. We are concerned that our limited vitae would affect our chances to compete in team selection. Our question is whether or not it would be advisable for us to submit an application, based on the fact our background is as instructors, rather than teachers with a vitae which would include scholarly publications?

First, I would like to point out that the grant is aimed solely at community college faculty, and it is directed by a community college organization. Thus, there is a clear understanding of the environment in which community college instructors work. There is also no mention anywhere in the project of a need for scholarly research publication as a qualification of the project team members. It is natural that your application will reflect your strengths as instructors, but that does not mean that your study and teraching of the humanities (and, in particular your proposal for this project) do not reflect intellectual rigor and innovation.