Rationale and Scope: 

Faculty Development Grants (FDG) are intended to benefit both the Georgia Tech community and the careers of CoE faculty members by fostering and supporting significant new opportunities for professional growth and development. Examples of activities which could be supported by a Faculty Development Grant include changing research direction by spending time at another institution to conduct research; working on a book or other large creative project; large-scale pedagogical or curricular innovation; or assembling a large, collaborative grant proposal.    

Schools will be provided with funds to replace the faculty member in the classroom for a single semester, either Fall or Spring. Faculty members who participate in one-semester of development activity will retain their Georgia Tech academic salary during this period. Faculty who plans development activities for two consecutive academic semesters must procure external funds if they wish to receive their full salary during this period. During this period, faculty remain 100% FTE at Georgia Tech, with the usual restrictions and reporting requirements required for external activities and disclosures or conflicts of interest.   

Criteria: 

1. Faculty Development Grants are restricted to those tenured faculty members who have been at Georgia Tech for at least six years and have not already received a Faculty Development Grant in the previous six years. 

With COE launching this program for AY 2024-25, faculty eligibility will be phased in. Tenured faculty with 6, 13, 20, 27, 34, 41, 48, and 55 years since tenure, as of Fall 2023, will be eligible for grants in AY 2024-25. (Note: For AY 2025-26, those with 6, 13, 20 etc. years since tenure, as of Fall 2024, will be eligible; For AY 2026-27, those with 6, 13, 20 etc. years since tenure, as of Fall 2025, will be eligible and so on.) 

2. Participating faculty must have a demonstrated record of and trajectory for continuing excellence in research, scholarship, and creative endeavors. This includes successful (i.e., 5-year) post-tenure review outcome, for the most recent review, if applicable.  
3. Preference will be given to applications complemented by external funds acquired by the applicant to support the proposed development activities.  
4. Priority will be given to faculty who have not had a prior approved Leave of Absence (LOA) associated with professional development, Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignment or similar off-campus assignment in the previous six years.  
5. The application will be judged based on the significance of the professional opportunity, the potential for impact on Georgia Tech and on the faculty member’s career, and on the recommendation and prioritization of the School (see expectations for the proposal below).  

Restrictions: 

FDG funds are not available during the summer term. Administrative stipends on faculty salary will be suspended during the FDG period. Extra compensation (i.e., compensation exceeding the faculty member’s academic year salary), whether from GT units, other universities, or other entities, is not permitted during the FDG period.  No more than 8% of COE faculty from any one unit or COE overall may participate in FDG at any one time.

Application Process: 

Applications should consist of the following documents submitted electronically to CoE (fdg@coe.gatech.edu), by January 15th for development activities proposed for the next academic year (i.e., a proposal for activities during Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 must be applied for by January 15, 2024):  

1. A completed Faculty Development Grant Letter of Intent Form, submitted by December 1, with approval by the School Chair by December 15.  
2. Once you have been notified that your letter of intent has been approved, you will receive a second link to upload the following application materials: 
   1. A proposal focusing on the nature of the activity to be undertaken during the development period, including a description of objectives and plans. The proposal should also explain how the leave will facilitate the faculty member’s professional growth or change of direction. Expected outcomes of the leave should be presented, including anticipated benefits to the faculty member’s career and to Georgia Tech. The maximum allowable length of the proposal is 2 pages, including figures and references.  
   2. A current Curriculum Vitae (in the Georgia Tech format or similar is preferred.)  

Review and Award Process: 

Applications are evaluated once per year soon after the January deadline. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis following a review within the College using the criteria described above. Applications that are highly rated but cannot be supported due to limited availability of CoE funds may be supported by School funds subject to approval of the School Chair. Applications that are highly rated but cannot be supported due to a high number of applications from a unit may be prioritized for future years or semesters.   

The outcomes of the competition will be provided to each applicant by the end of February of each calendar year. Late applications will not be accepted unless unspent funds remain. Questions concerning the process and proposal status should be directed to Kim Kurtis, COE’s Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Scholarship (kkurtis@gatech.edu)  

Administrative Requirements: 

After a Faculty Development Grant has been approved by the College of Engineering, the faculty member’s home School HR manager should submit the appropriate paperwork, including an OSP Checklist, via TRACS so the absence can be approved at the Institute level. For a physical absence from campus exceeding (8 weeks or more), the appropriate paperwork is a Leave of Absence Form plus a spend authorization. For one or more physical absences each lasting more than 10 consecutive business days, but not longer than 8 weeks, the appropriate paperwork is the Absence from Campus Form plus spend authorization (Note: SA is submitted separately for each trip). Multiple shorter trips that are less than half a semester in total duration can be approved on one Absence from Campus Form.  Multiple shorter trips that are longer than half a semester in total duration should be approved through a Leave of Absence form. For individual absences of 10 or fewer consecutive business days, only a spend authorization is required.   

For international activities, an international assessment may be required; please refer to the decision tree in Figure 1 to confirm. If an international assessment is required, it should be submitted through Service Now at least 60 days in advance of the start of the FDG activity. If an international assessment is not required, an export control review should still be submitted and approved prior to the start of the activities.

Return to Campus: 

Within 90 days of the conclusion of the development activities, the faculty member must prepare a final report describing the activities during the leave and the benefits to the faculty member and to Georgia Tech and submit the report to fdg@coe.gatech.edu.  The report will be used in the evaluation of future FDG requests. Failure to submit a report may affect the faculty member’s eligibility and priority for future grants.  

Faculty receiving a one-year Faculty Development Grant involving a Leave of Absence are required to return to Georgia Tech for at least one full year and to full-time instruction (as appropriate for their unit) after their development activities. Faculty that takes a leave of absence and do not return full-time to campus, either by pursuing a career opportunity outside of Georgia Tech or through retirement, must repay to Georgia Tech salary, retirement contributions and benefits accrued during the FDG period.

FAQs: 

Q. I'm unsure about my eligible timing for the faculty development grant. What is the right timing? 

A. Timing depends on the year tenure was awarded.  The Excel document below details the cohort eligible for each academic year (Fall, Spring), based on years since tenure. Tenure is effective in August for faculty with academic year contracts and in July for faculty with calendar year contracts, but this does NOT affect the eligible cohort year. Faculty who started at GT with tenure are eligible to participate on the same timing; for faculty who started with tenure after Oct 15, their eligibility will shift to the subsequent academic year cohort. If you have any questions remaining about timing, please check with Assistant Dean Terri Lee or Associate Dean Kim Kurtis.

Q. What if I want to defer my FDG, after my proposal is accepted?  

A. If a faculty member who has received a faculty development grant wishes to defer to a different academic year than was proposed, they should submit a request to the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Scholarship and be aware that they may be asked to reapply.   

Q. What if I choose not to apply in the year I am first eligible?  

A. Once eligible for FDG (see Criteria #2), faculty who defer or postpone their planning, will be placed at lower priority than applications submitted on the regular schedule.  

Q. What are some sources of outside funding, to help supplement my FDG? 

A. Some potential sources for funding include:  

Faculty Development External Funding.xlsx 

If you find others that you’d like to share, please let us know!