Argosy Collaborative Faculty Exchange
The Franklin W. Olin College is pleased to solicit applications from engineering educators and their institutions to participate in the Argosy Collaborative Faculty Exchange. Funded by the Argosy Foundation, the program is designed to catalyze educational innovation through cross-campus collaboration. The exchange will create partnerships with departments or programs committed to educational change, embedding faculty from partner schools for year-long residencies at Olin College, providing participants with time, space and support for planning transformative activities at their home campuses. Partnerships are typically expected to include two consecutive years of residencies at Olin, with varying faculty participants. The multi-year program will include a comprehensive assessment of the exchange’s impact on the partner schools as well as Olin.
Participating institutions are invited to nominate pairs of senior and junior faculty who will work on the proposed projects. The pairing of senior and junior faculty is designed to provide a coalition for change in engineering education at the partner institution. Senior faculty members have deep understanding of their institution’s culture, students and facilities. Junior faculty will drive the innovation as they advance their careers and serve as future leaders of change.
During the residency period, partner faculty will work with Olin faculty and engage in collaborative curricular creation and innovation. Teaching opportunities – such as co-teaching in some of Olin’s distinctive courses – will be strongly encouraged and may also include piloting of courses developed during the residency for the home institution. Olin faculty and students will benefit from the fresh perspectives that visiting faculty will offer. As a part of the program, Olin faculty will also spend time on the partner campuses to help teams implement their planned curricular innovations.
Proposals will be evaluated based on the potential impact of change that the projects will have in their home institutions, the level of commitment that the participating institutions make towards actually implementing change, and the participants’ professional background, interest and personal commitment to change in engineering education; and the fit with existing Olin activities and resources.
The following application materials should be submitted electronically to ACFEx@olin.edu by November 15, 2012:
- A project summary (3 pages maximum) describing the proposed project including the roles of the proposed faculty team. The proposal should describe the desired outcomes of the engineering curriculum design projects to be undertaken at Olin, the extent to which the project will benefit from resources and collaboration available through the Olin program, and how the project fits into a larger institutional plan for curricular and pedagogical change.
- Proposed participating faculty should provide personal statements on teaching philosophy and experience, as well as their motivations for engaging in the project, accompanied by curriculum vitae.
- A letter of support from the dean or equivalent academic leader describing the importance and level of support for the project at the home institution, including resource commitments for a planned implementation phase.
The selected exchange faculty will be eligible for partial salary support of up to $60,000 through the program during their residency period. Salary and other financial details will be determined on a case by case basis, depending on the project, personnel and residency period. The application and selection time frame are designed to allow decisions by early in the spring term so that potential faculty participants can align the program with sabbatical or similar planning.
Inquiries or preliminary thoughts on potential projects are welcomed. Please submit these electronically to ACFEx@olin.edu and someone from the Olin team will respond.
We look forward to hearing from you.