School of Education Staff Innovation Grants

Eligibility

• Appointment level: SoE university and academic staff who hold a 50 percent or more appointment level.
• Time employed at UW–Madison:
  • For individual grants, eligibility after three years of employment at UW–Madison.
  • If a team is applying, it is an average of three years among the team members.
• All applicants’ most recent performance evaluations need to be “meeting expectations.”
• Supervisory approval of all applicants.
• Supervisors must approve release time to complete the proposed project. Academic departments that need assistance to cover instructional time for academic staff who teach should contact Adam Nelson, senior associate dean in the School of Education.
• Funding requests are up to $10,000 per individual or team. We anticipate funding at least eight to 12 projects per year.
• Up to $1 million in funding will be available until 2030; during that time, the Dean’s Office will review the program periodically to assess its effectiveness.

Proposal Criteria

Proposals for the SoE Staff Innovation Grant will outline which criteria the grant meets. Different proposals will meet different criteria. There is not an expectation that each proposal speaks directly to all the criteria.

• Evidence of professional and personal impact.
• Evidence of capacity to carry out the project.
• Evidence of innovations, organizational improvements, or new efficiencies related to job responsibilities and unit goals.
• Evidence of impact on the SoE community (for example, promoting connections among staff, strengthening relationships with schools, potential for scalability, or growth of the project).
• Equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice focused proposals are encouraged.

Review Committee

• The review committee is appointed by the dean.
• The review committee will include seven staff, with at least three from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
• The review committee will have representation across position types; including both academic staff and university staff.
• All review committee appointments will be for three years.
• The review committee will review proposals and make recommendations to the dean. The dean will make the final decision.