Walking the tight-rope of teaching, research, service, and life beyond campus can be overwhelming for faculty members. This spring, the Office of the Provost is offering scholarships for Illinois State faculty looking to achieve balance through a program offered by the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD).

Faculty Success Program

NCFDD’s summer-long Faculty Success Program is a 12-week online experience intended for tenure-track and tenured faculty members who want to improve research productivity through intense accountability, coaching, and peer support and to propel their work-life balance and personal growth to a completely new level. This year’s program runs through mid-May until early August. It normally costs participants more than $4,500.

As a pilot program this year, the Office of the Provost will fund up to eight participants with scholarships of $2,800 each, with the participant’s college or department agreeing to match that amount, covering the entire tuition.

Here more about the program on this recent episode of Let’s Talk Teaching, a podcast from the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology.

Applying for the scholarship

Faculty members must apply for this special scholarship, which includes a letter of endorsement from their chair or director, before Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Individuals selected to receive support will be notified by March 15, and they will need to register with NCFDD for the summer program soon thereafter.

Program outcomes

The NCFDD Faculty Success Program has several aims. Faculty members who complete the program will:

  1. Set achievable personal and professional goals that align with our institution’s priorities and your own values.
  2. Create a realistic and concrete plan to meet your goals.
  3. Establish and maintain a healthy and sustainable daily writing habit.
  4. Develop a publication portfolio that will exceed our institution’s criteria for promotion.
  5. Better manage their time spent on teaching, service, research, and writing so that it aligns with their goals.
  6. Identify obstacles that are holding them back and strategies to move through them.
  7. Prioritize their physical and emotional health.
  8. Participate in an intensely supportive community that processes day-to-day challenges, pushes individuals when they need it, and celebrates members’ successes as they occur.

Learn more

Learn more about the requirement of this program, its funding, and the time you’d be committing on the Provost Office’s website.