Virginia Tech® home

Professional Development Grant

This grant supports professional development opportunities for faculty dedicated to championing global learning. We aim to cultivate academic leaders who design meaningful, high-impact global experiences by funding training that models effective practices for global education. Examples of supported activities include:

  • Participation in Global Teaching Scholar programs designed for Virginia Tech faculty to enhance their expertise as global educators through international faculty development. Co-facilitated by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), Global Teaching Scholar programs combine interactive workshops and place-based activities.
  • Program leader shadowing or other mentored training experiences.
  • Attending training and/or workshops focused on internationalizing the curriculum, including global communication skills, embedding international perspectives into existing courses, and utilizing technology to facilitate cross-border collaboration.

Timeline
Call for Proposals
  • Primary Cycle: March 1
    (for the following fiscal year)
  • Secondary Cycle: August 1
Application Deadline
  • Primary Cycle: April 15
  • Secondary Cycle: September 1
Award Notification
  • Primary Cycle: May 1
  • Secondary Cycle: September 15

Preparing to Apply

Award Amount:
Up to $3,000 per grant for program expenses (e.g., travel for site development, instructional materials, or partnership cultivation).

Matching Requirement:
A minimum $500 departmental/college match (cash transfer or documented expenditure) is required.

All full-time Virginia Tech teaching faculty (tenure track, collegiate, professors of practice, and long-term lecturers) interested in developing or expanding global education programs are eligible. Shared authorship is encouraged, but awards are capped at $3,000 per proposal.

Note on Eligibility: Grants are intended for developmental training. They are not awarded for individual professional activities such as attending or presenting at academic conferences.

Proposals will be evaluated based on four core pillars:

  • Innovation: Current relevance of the proposed training or shadowing model and its potential to introduce new pedagogies
  • Impact: Training – Potential for the training to translate into high-impact teaching rich in global engagement experiences; Mentoring/Shadowing – contribution to sustainability of existing program and potential for new program creation targeting underserved disciplines and regions. Evaluates the clarity of the student learning outcomes.
  • Access: Resources to equip faculty to design and/or (co) lead high-impact, affordable global experiences accessible to students across the entire student body.
  • Sustainability: demonstration of faculty member’s clear pathway to incorporate the learned skills long-term





Submit Your Application

Apply Via Email






Application Sections

Applicant Details:

  • Name
  • College
  • Department
  • Contact information

Financial Transfer:
Departmental E&G fund number for the award transfer.

Project Summary:
Provide a concise overview of the proposed training, mentorship, or shadowing experience. Identify the specific initiative you intend to develop or benefits of participation. Clearly articulate why this specific opportunity is important to your professional growth and how it aligns with creating high-impact global engagement experiences.

Innovation:
Explain the current relevance of the pedagogy you will be studying and how it improves conventional methods of student-centered global learning.

Application for Learning:
If applicable, detail how the expertise gained will be directly applied to your teaching. Identify the specific course(s) or student-facing programs that will be transformed by this training. How will you improve your abilities as a facilitator of global engagement?

Sustainability:
How will you serve as a "Global Teaching Scholar" within your department to mentor others or influence broader curricular goals?

Accessibility and Affordability:
Explain how this training will improve your ability to design broadly accessible global engagement experiences. Specifically, how will you use these new skills to address affordability, reduce logistical or financial barriers limiting student participation, or create academically enriching and globally-focused learning environments?

Letter of Support:
From the Department Head/Dean confirming matching funds and academic alignment.

Maximum Length:
Three (3) pages (excluding Letter of Support).

Submitting:
Submit as a single PDF to Marielle Wijnands with "Program Development Grant" in the subject line.




After-Action Report

Recipients are expected to submit a 2–4-page after-action report to GEO within 60 days of project completion with the following information:

Budget:
Recipients are required to submit a report on fund expenditure

Synthesis of Learning:
A reflective summary of the specific professional development competencies gained. 

Pedagogical Application:
A deliverable demonstrating pedagogical application (e.g., draft module for a course, revised program itinerary that prioritizes reciprocity and deep learning, and/or assessment tool for measuring student intercultural growth).

Leadership:
A commitment to "pay it forward"; briefly describe how you will share this expertise with departmental colleagues.

Access Strategy:
A description of how you will apply universal design principles to ensure future offerings are more affordable and broadly accessible to the general student population.