The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC), established by Board of Governors' policy in 1985, is designed "to encourage continuous attention to the professional growth and development of System faculty as teaching scholars."

Annual Grants Program

Guidelines and Submission Instructions for FPDC Collaborative Academic Grants Competition 2020-21

The deadline to submit is January 8, 2021, by noon.Proposals should be submitted via the InfoReady Review competition. A link to InfoReady is also available from the Tools menu in MyIUP, titled Internal Grant Funding. Proposals received after this date and time will not be reviewed. No paper copies will be accepted.

The guidelines (downloadable) provide information about the purpose of the Annual Grants Program, faculty eligibility, evaluation criteria, submission requirements and deadline, application categories, budget instructions and limitations, format guidelines, content guidelines, and other useful information.

Faculty may apply for up to $8,000. Grant proposals requiring amounts above $8,000 should be submitted to other funding sources or show how the additional amount is provided as a contribution from a university or other revenue source.

IUP may submit up to 16 grant proposals, endorsed by the campus committee and university president.

There is a two-stage submission process for grant proposals written by IUP faculty:

  • The IUP Faculty Professional Development Committee (IUP-FPDC) will review and select three IUP proposals for submission to the PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Council.

Applications will be accepted in five categories described within the guidelines:

  • 1-A: Joint Faculty-Student Basic or Applied Research
  • 1-B: Scholarly Research: Basic or Applied
  • 2: Joint Faculty-Student Public Service
  • 3: Creative and Performing Arts
  • 4:Innovation in teaching and improvement in student learning outcomes
  • 5: Individual Career Enhancement in Off-Site Settings

Questions regarding the development of proposals and budgets may be addressed to Ms. Tracy Eisenhower, IUP Research Institute (tracye@iup.edu, 357-1915), and questions about the on-campus review process or the IUP-FPDC can be addressed to the committee chair, Dr. Lynanne Black (lblack@iup.edu, 357-4757).

Examples of Model Proposals for Annual Grants Program:

According to Article 44 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, $300,000 will be provided each fiscal year to the statewide FPDC to support professional development programs and activities approved by the council.

From this funding, the council solicits proposals from PASSHE faculty for the Annual Grant Program. Proposals are reviewed first by the IUP Faculty Professional Development Committee, which was formed in response to the creation of the FPDC.

The IUP committee provides feedback to proposal writers, narrows the field if necessary, and forwards up to twelve proposals to the State System office for review by the council.

See a list of recent Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) Annual Grants Program award winners.