Course Development Mini-Grant

Arizona State University (ASU) in collaboration with the University of Prishtina (UP) and its Center for Teaching Excellence

invites you to apply for a “Course Development Mini-Grant

to advance a new certificate program at the University of Prishtina on

“Renewable Energy and Sustainability”

Introduction

Funded by a grant from World Learning, Inc. and USAID-Kosovo’s Transformational Leadership Project, Arizona State University (ASU) has entered into partnership with the University of Prishtina (UP) for the development of relevant new curriculum addressing the cutting-edge issues of “Renewable Energy and Sustainability.”  Although the ASU-UP partnership in “Renewable Energy and Sustainability” began modestly in cooperation with the UP Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, we quickly came to recognize that the issues of “sustainability” and “renewable energy” were much more broadly interdisciplinary in character, requiring the contributions of colleagues from a wide set of disciplines and faculties. The new baccalaureate certificate program in “Renewable Energy and Sustainability” will need the input of multiple faculties and specializations.  Toward that end, we are sending this solicitation to faculty members—professors and assistants—from a wide set of disciplines, inviting you to join this new curricular development in “Renewable Energy and Sustainability.”  Specifically, we invite you to apply for a “Course Development Mini-Grant (CDMG)” to develop the curriculum for this new certificate. CDMG awards of up to $2000 each will be awarded competitively to UP faculty professors and assistants who wish to develop a specific course for inclusion as a required or as an elective course offering within the proposed new baccalaureate certificate program. A portion of the award will be issued in early April 2017, with the remainder paid at the conclusion of the course development process in October 2017.

Requirements

Recipients of the CDMG awards will be required to:

Prepare a syllabus for a new or revised course to be offered within the “Renewable Energy and Sustainability certificate program.  In selecting awardees, the goal will be to include a wide range of disciplinary offerings.  Courses in the social sciences, law, and economics (e.g., “Introduction to Green Architecture” or “Environmental Law” or “The Statistical Measurement of One’s Carbon Footprint”) will be evaluated just as positively as more technical courses in science or engineering (e.g., “Solar Energy and Photovoltaics” or “An Introduction to Bio-Fuels”). The course syllabus will follow prescribed guidelines for the certificate program, describing in each case the course content, specific course outcomes, an outline of the schedule and content of weekly classes, and a clear description of the course requirements (including required papers and exams). A draft of that syllabus will need to be completed by June 1.

Prepare specific lesson plans and assigned reading.  In addition to the required course syllabus, awardees will be expected to provide concrete lesson plans for individual seminar or lecture sessions, including a list of required and suggested readings.  Awardees may wish to propose specific readings that they will translate into Albanian under terms of the award, or otherwise make available for their students.  All lesson plans, along with the identification and translation of assigned reading, must be completed by October 1, 2017, the terminal date of the CDMG award.

Participate in a weekend seminar to be held in Prizren in early June 2017.  Awardees will be expected to attend a weekend seminar for all UP faculty members participating in the new certificate program.  To be held in Prizren in early June 2017, the seminar will include housing and modest per diem support. The goal of the seminar will be to review awardees’ proposed course syllabi, and to discuss the course development process, and the contours of the new certificate program.     

Application Process

Eligibility: All UP faculty members, including both professors and assistants, who are interested in participating in the development of new curriculum in “Renewable Energy and Sustainability” at the University of Prishtina are eligible to apply and are encouraged to do so.

Complete Applications: Attached is a two-page application form.  The form asks for information about yourself  and about the course you are proposing to develop for the certificate program.  A complete application will consist of 1) the two-page application form fully filled out;  and 2) a current CV.  Assistants who are applying for the CDMG award are asked to confirm their ability to offer such a course independently or in collaboration with a supervising professor. Applications may be submitted in Albanian or in English.

Deadline: The completed two-page application form and an accompanying current CV must be submitted (in pdf or Word format) electronically to [email protected] by Monday, March 6.  Following review of the applications, finalists will be invited for an oral interview on Monday, March 13, to be held in the offices of World Learning in Prishtina.  If you have any questions about the application process, please do not hesitate to contact Professor Shahin Berisha at [email protected].