Teacher-Scholar Grants

Teacher-Scholar Grants (up to $15,000 each) will be awarded to individuals who wish to research character and/or character education in undergraduate education, develop specific projects or resources aimed at strengthening their institution’s and the larger network’s capacity to educate character effectively, and/or pursue professional development as a character educator. We welcome proposals on any project relevant to character in higher education, but preference will be given to those that focus on understanding why and how character education might support the educational mission of colleges and universities; examining strategies for cultivating character that are particularly relevant for undergraduate students; determining which measures are needed to assess character growth in emerging adults; and/or exploring how faculty and staff can integrate those strategies and measures into their disciplinary, curricular, and co-curricular offerings. This research could include theoretical and/or empirical research as well as practical research that applies these insights to different pedagogical, disciplinary, or institutional contexts.

This work will be vital not only in equipping university leaders with valuable resources but also demonstrating the value and impact of this work in ways that might support the larger community within higher education. Ultimately, these grants will support individuals in developing their scholarly expertise in character education, expand the pipeline of scholars doing research on character education in colleges and universities, and increase knowledge-sharing and pedagogical innovation across institutions, disciplines, and the network. We expect that some grantees may offer workshops or present research at ECI conferences and convenings, publish resources that could be useful for the larger network, and/or serve as consultants or advisory board members based on their expertise.

Teacher-Scholar Grant activities could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Course buy-outs, summer funding, or salary replacement for faculty to focus on research or pedagogical development related to character in higher education.
• Professional development support, such as travel funds to present research on character at conferences or get feedback on a book manuscript.
• Student research assistants (graduate or undergraduate).
• Books, materials, or software for research, assessment, or course development.
• Funds for the creation or dissemination of resources.
• Participant incentives to conduct studies. 
• Partial support of a postdoctoral fellow (that could be matched with institutional or departmental support). 

The Program for Leadership and Character will provide multiple opportunities for
individuals to convene in person and virtually to discuss topics of common interest. Since the Educating Character Initiative will be organizing major conferences and convenings for the entire network, funding to host conferences may not be included in these requests, unless plans are coordinated in advance with the staff of the Educating Character Initiative.

Staff from the Educating Character Initiative will also be available to provide individualized coaching and support for faculty, staff, and student development and/or assessment, so those costs need not be included within the grant.

Application Instructions

The full application will be available in the ECI Grant Portal. You must provide:

• Contact Information for the Principal Investigator(s), Administrative Assistant (if applicable), and Department or Supervisor (if applicable)
• Project Name and Abstract (500-word maximum)
• Amount Requested ($15,000 maximum)
• A description of the character approach to be used in the project (500-word maximum)
• A description of the core research, program, curricular, or other goals (500-word maximum)
• A description of project activities and explanation of why ECI support is necessary to complete these activities (250-word maximum)
• A description of target impact and outcomes, including how those outcomes
  will be assessed or measured, as well as expected scholarly publications or
  research products (500-word maximum)
• Curriculum vitae for the project leader(s), no more than 5 pages each. No photos, please. 
• Project Timeline
• Budget, including (minimally) separate lines for personnel, travel and
  registration costs, books and research material costs, and other character
  related training costs, separated by semester.

The submission deadline for the application is January 3, 2025, at 5:00 PM ET through the ECI Grant Portal. The portal will accept completed applications beginning December 11, 2024. Award decisions are expected to be issued by February 17, 2025. All dates and deadlines are subject to change.  

The Educating Character Initiative team will host six, hour-long, online sessions in order to provide an overview of and answer questions about 2025 ECI Grants:

• November 20, 2024, 11am – 12 pm ET and 12 pm – 1pm ET
• December 12, 2024, 11am – 12 pm ET and 12 pm – 1pm ET
• January 9, 2025, 11am – 12pm ET and 12 pm – 1pm ET

Register for an online session here.

All inquiries should be directed toward ECI@wfu.edu.

Grant Eligibility and Expectations for Funded Proposals

The project leader(s) must be in a faculty or staff position at an accredited college or university in the United States or hold a relevant position in a registered nonprofit organization. Individual grants must be awarded through an institution or organization. All applicants agree to register as a member of the Educating Character Initiative community.

Individuals may not be awarded a Teacher-Scholar Grant if they are part of a team awarded a Capacity-Building Grant or if they are on a team invited to the final round of Institutional-Impact Grant consideration.

Funded projects and project leaders will commit to the following:

• Attend check-in meetings with ECI staff, submit final reports, including any
  assessments of outcomes on students, faculty, and/or staff, as well as final
  expenditure reports.
• Attend at least one gathering sponsored by the Program for Leadership and Character.
• Attend and present key results at a convening where they will be required to:
  – provide feedback to others and receive feedback on their own project
  – suggest avenues for future research, integration, and/or implementation
  – share the results and findings of their projects
  – consent to have their presentation(s) recorded.
• For all project outputs that arise from work supported by the grant, awardees
  must notify the Educating Character Initiative of any significant events,
  presentations, or awards; submit copies of all published work or other public
  products to the Educating Character Initiative; and acknowledge the Program
  for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University and Lilly Endowment
  Inc. in project publications.
• Follow stipulations of the grant award as communicated and determined by the Educating Character Initiative.

Teacher-Scholar Grants Dates to Remember

Grants Info Sessions:           Available here.
Final Proposal Due:              January 3, 2025
Grant Decisions:                   February 17, 2025
Grant Start Date:                  June 1, 2025

All dates and deadlines are subject to change.