FAQs

How do you decide which projects to support and fund?

Our major considerations include your unit’s readiness for the project and your commitment to a process that centers equity and student learning, as well as our capacity to support your project. Other considerations include the potential impact of the project on student learning and departmental teaching culture; the project’s contribution to our goal of supporting a wide variety of units across schools, disciplines, and degree types; and the degree to which your unit could benefit from our support. Overall, the application process is designed to help us all come to a clear mutual understanding—our understanding of your project and your understanding of our approach—and agreement that working together would best help you accomplish your goals.

Why is the application process so involved?

Because curriculum (re)design is a big commitment! Additionally, this type of work is highly influenced by unit norms and cultures, and the assumptions one unit brings to the process may be very different from those of another unit. A project has a much higher chance of going smoothly and successfully if we understand your unit’s culture, and if you understand our process and approach—both of which take time. By taking this time as part of the application process, we hope to ensure as much clarity and transparency as possible before we both commit to the project.

Can we apply if we have already started working on our curriculum (re)design? What about if we aren’t sure if we’re ready yet?

The answers to questions like these are highly context-dependent, so we recommend reaching out to Elizabeth Dickens  to discuss your situation. There are instances in which we have successfully supported units who had already begun their work, and other instances in which partnering with us partway through a project would not be the best choice for the unit. If you aren’t sure whether you are ready yet, we can also help you evaluate that.

Our project is smaller/more focused/otherwise different than developing or revising an entire major or degree program. Can we still apply?

Yes! We can support a range of projects, from the development or revision of a major or degree program; to work on a subset of courses such as a core curriculum or thematic track; to the integration of one or more new learning outcomes, pedagogies, or thematic emphases (e.g., around equity, experiential learning, interdisciplinary methodologies, etc.) throughout a program curriculum. We can also support units interested in reviewing and/or assessing their curriculum, as well as other unit-based change initiatives. All projects that qualify for this program need to involve a group of stakeholders (e.g., all faculty in a department) who collectively own and must collaborate on the project. The projects must also be about some aspect of teaching and learning, rather than some other element of unit culture or extra-curricular student experience.

What if our application is unsuccessful?

The application process is about coming to a mutual understanding of whether this program is a good fit for your project, and if so, how we might best work together. In most cases, it will be clear early in the application process, before too much effort has been expended, whether the project is a good fit, though occasionally issues will come up later in the process that raise serious questions about the likelihood of project success. At each stage of the application process, there is an opportunity for you and/or for us to decide not to move forward with the project. This will always involve a discussion, in the interest of transparency and clarity.   At times we will be at capacity and not able to take on new projects; at those times we would ask you to join a queue to begin your application at a later time. If it turns out your unit is not yet ready to begin work, we would also invite you to resume your application when you are.

What does the CTE support look like? Who is setting the agendas, running the meetings, and otherwise deciding what to do?

There are a range of approaches to this, and part of the application process involves determining what makes sense in your particular case. Generally speaking, we have found that projects are much more likely to move forward successfully when this is an active partnership between the curriculum development team and the CTE.

We recommend standing meetings at least monthly during the semester. There are stages in the process (especially in the beginning) when it is best if we drive the agenda for these meetings. There are other stages when it makes more sense for the curriculum development team to drive the agenda, and sometimes to meet on their own, just keeping us in the loop. We act as a project manager, directing the flow of the process, keeping track of major benchmarks, and holding you accountable to your goals.

Ultimately, this is your—and your students’—curriculum, and you will make the decisions about it. We will make suggestions about how to approach the project, but what you develop is up to you. Our job is to combine our expertise in curriculum design and process facilitation with your disciplinary expertise to help you create outstanding learning experiences for your students.

What if we want to organize our process differently from what the CTE suggests?

Our process is designed to be both structured and customizable. We will collaboratively develop a process that will work well for you, and there will be regular opportunities to revise the plan if necessary. We believe it’s important to be responsive to a unit’s culture and needs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to curriculum design.

That said, we ask all units to commit to the following:

• Taking a learning-centered and aligned approach

• Creating both a process and a final curriculum design that are equitable and inclusive

• Using a holistic definition of “curriculum” that includes attending not only to course sequences and requirements but also to things like course design and advising

What if we only want a little bit of CTE support? Can you come in and do a workshop for our curriculum project?

We do not offer one-time workshops for curriculum projects; this type of long-term and complex work does not benefit from a one-time workshop approach. We can provide lower levels of support for a curriculum project in the form of a long-term consultation relationship. Rather than the CTE managing the project and meeting regularly with a full curriculum development team, we would meet less regularly with one or two people leading the work in the unit, advising about direction, helping troubleshoot problems, and so forth.

Depending on the circumstances, we could also support this type of project through activities such as data collection and analysis, or workshops, so long as the workshops are set up in the context of a longer-term relationship with the unit and project. Units interested in this type of support should apply in the usual way, and we can discuss what makes the most sense during the application process.

It’s going to be difficult to get our whole department at a half-day retreat. What do they look like and do we have to do them?

We recognize that aligning schedules for a half-day gathering is challenging and it is unlikely, especially in larger units, that everyone will be able to attend. It is important, however, to aim to get most key stakeholders together for some concentrated work sessions. This enables the full unit to understand and contribute to the work, which is essential for an inclusive process.

Therefore, for most projects, we will insist on efforts to bring the full unit together at least twice in the process, for setting overall student learning goals (early in the design process) and for working on the pathways and requirements for the new curriculum (about 2/3 of the way through the process). Occasionally there are projects, often in interdisciplinary programs or those in which only a small number of faculty are involved in the curriculum, where the work is better accomplished in different formats.

We design the retreats to be productive and efficient, to make the most of everyone's time. These are opportunities for structured work time, with clear deliverables that advance the work and a reasonable scope for the time involved.

Is there a time limit on the CTE support?

During the application process, we will work together on a realistic timeline for your project, which will also be the time frame for CTE support. However, curriculum projects can be delayed for many reasons. If a unit has been making consistent progress toward its goals and needs additional support beyond the agreed-upon time frame, we are typically able to provide that. On the other hand, if a unit’s progress has stalled due to their lack of engagement in the process or to other factors that make it unlikely that the project will be successfully completed, the CTE will not be able to provide support beyond the agreed-upon time frame.

Generally speaking, we are able to provide 2-3 years of support for each project.

How much funding can we expect to receive?

Funding amounts are calibrated to project needs, as determined in the application process. We will collaboratively put together a budget in the final stages of the application process. The maximum funding amount is $15,000 over the life of the project. That amount would typically fund large or lengthy projects; smaller projects would typically be funded at lower amounts. In addition to project length and scale, other factors may also impact funding amounts. For instance, a project that is heavily partnering with students, or one that involves a number of part-time faculty members, may receive funding to compensate the students or part-time faculty for their work.

The budget will divide the funding according to anticipated needs in each fiscal year. If the project takes unanticipated turns, we may be able to adjust the budget and funding distribution midway through the project. If a unit discontinues work on a project before completion, they will not receive any remaining funding.

What can the funding be used for?

Funding should be used to support project activities. Examples include summer salary for members of the curriculum development team, wages for graduate students supporting research and/or project management related to the curriculum project, expenses for unit curriculum retreats, incentives for students or other stakeholders to participate in surveys or focus groups, and support for part-time faculty or student partners participating in the design process.** These are not the only possible uses of the funding, and we are open to any budget requests that would support the unit’s curriculum design efforts. While funding may help cover related professional development expenses, they should be used to extend UVA Education Benefits, not replace them.

All funds must be spent by May 1 of the fiscal year in which they were issued. Unspent funds will be returned to the CTE.

**Faculty may use funding for summer salary only; faculty overload pay is not allowed. Any wages in the budget should incorporate appropriate academic fringe rates.

Does the CTE help with the processes for getting new or revised degrees approved?

All UVA schools have processes for approving curricular changes, and units are responsible for shepherding their curricula through those processes. The CTE can help units align their work with us to the requirements for school and university processes related to curriculum changes, accreditation and assessment, and program review. Our ongoing partnership with Institutional Research and Analytics (IRA) will help with this.

All new curricula, and certain substantive revisions to existing curricula, must be approved by the University Faculty Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). IRA helps units navigate these processes. Again, the CTE can help the units think about alignment between their work with us and the various approval requirements and can help connect unit faculty to our colleagues in IRA, but everything related to processes like degree approval and accreditation are ultimately the responsibility of the unit.