Syracuse University has awarded Vision Fund grants to 22 new
academic initiatives for the year 2001 funding cycle. The Vision Fund program
was established in 1998 to stimulate innovative approaches to teaching and
learning.
Coordinated by the Center for Support of Teaching and Learning (CSTL), the
program consists of two categories of grants: a small grant fund that provides
up to $5,000 to support creative ideas of individual faculty and staff, and a
large grant fund that targets departments, schools and colleges, and provides
support ranging from $10,000 to $30,000.
Originally designed as a three-year initiative, the University has extended
the Vision Fund Program for another year, according to Franklin P. Wilbur,
associate vice president for undergraduate studies and executive director of the
CSTL. A call for proposals for a fourth round of funding will be sent out during
the fall 2001 semester.
"This third round of Vision Fund winners are among the most exciting
yet," Wilbur says. "Many are cross disciplinary, and all have a high
potential for improving student learning. For an institution with innovation as
a core value, this fund underscores the importance we place on encouraging
visionary, experimental and creative thinking, and to removing barriers to
creative change."
The Vision Fund proposals are reviewed by a committee of faculty, staff and
students against criteria that emphasizes teaching and learning, diversity, and
interdisciplinary approaches that would impact the greatest number of students.
CSTL staff offers training and support for faculty and staff in both writing the
proposals and in implementing the projects.
Proposals funded this year include:
? Art, Education and Environment: A collaborative project among interior
design students in the College for Human Development, students in the School of
Education and children of the SU Early Education and Child Care Center to
develop classroom environments that enhance teaching and learning;
? Peer Training Program to Improve Performance of Undergraduates who
Provide Community Service to Children and Youth: A focused training program
encompassing a 90-minute formal training session with three hours of follow-up
activities to provide students with the skills they need to create a safe
relationship with the children they work with;
? Ritual and Religion-Selected Work from the Light Work Collection: the
first in a series of exhibitions featuring the Light Work Collection, which will
be curated and designed by students in the Introduction to Curatorship course in
the Museum Studies Graduate Program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts
in cooperation with students from the Department of Religion in the College of
Arts and Sciences;
? The Interfaith Middle East Experience: An experiential learning program
where Muslim, Jewish and Christian students will travel together to the Middle
East to explore each other's faith traditions and to enter into dialogue with
those engaged in regional efforts toward peace and justice;
? Lockerbie-Beyond the Tragedy: A project that will build upon the unique
link between a town and the University by taking a team of undergraduate student
photographers and writers to Lockerbie to document a place and its people, not a
disaster. The work will be assembled into a book that examines the broad history
and present of Lockerbie;
? The Syracuse Workshop Project-Graduate Students Teaching Creative Writing
in the Community: A program designed to train graduate students to teach
creative writing workshops in community sites such as schools, youth centers,
prisons and give the students opportunities to conduct these workshops in
community settings;
? Underground Railroad and Freedom Trail Course: The course will send
students to communities across New York State and to neighboring regions where
they will conduct research as an extension of their classroom experience; and
?A Hypothesis-Driven Field and Laboratory Course in Environmental Science:
A cross-disciplinary collaboration between the departments of Earth Science and
Biology in The College of Arts and Sciences designed to give students
opportunities to develop testable hypotheses, visit field sites to collect data,
analyze the data and present conclusions in written and oral formats. The course
will provide students with real-life problem-solving situations similar to those
faced by professional researchers and environmental managers and policy makers.
