Enduring Questions: Pilot Course Grants FAQs

I have combined two part-time teaching positions at two different institutions to create a full-time teaching load for myself. Am I eligible to serve as a project director?

Yes. You are eligible to serve as a project director if you are a faculty member with a full-time teaching load, or the combined equivalent of a full-time teaching load, at one or more two-year or four-year colleges and universities. Eligible project directors may be tenured, tenure-track, non-tenure-track, or adjunct faculty members, and they may teach at more than one two- or four-year college or university.

I teach part-time and do not carry a full-time teaching load. Am I eligible to serve as a project director?

Because academic calendars and expectations for teaching and research differ from institution to institution, you will have to conform to the definition of full time at your institution(s).

I am a candidate for a graduate degree. Am I eligible to serve as a project director?

You are eligible if you teach the equivalent of a full-time load at one or more two- or four-year colleges or universities.

I want to continue to teach while working on the proposed project. Am I eligible serve as a project director?

No. The course may be developed by a team, but during the grant period it must be taught separately at least twice by each faculty member involved in developing it. The different faculty members teaching the course must all use a common syllabus.

I plan to develop the course by myself. How may I draw on the academic expertise of colleagues?

The grant provides an allowance for expert consultation to help you develop the content of the course, but not to participate in teaching it.

No, unless the presentation takes place outside class and directly supports an ancillary student activity such as visiting a museum.

We have an established course on enduring questions on our campus already and we would like to use the grant to support ancillary activities such as workshops, faculty development, and conferences. Would this grant be an appropriate source for these types of activities?

Can I teach this course in an honors program, first- or second-year seminar, residential college, or capstone course?

Would the development of an expository writing course be competitive for this grant?

Probably not, because such writing courses usually involve limited reading. An Enduring Questions course requires extensive reading.

Probably not, unless you can demonstrate strategies for creating and sustaining intellectual community and full engagement with extensive reading.

The bibliography is the list of works that you, as an individual or as members of a group, intend to study in order to prepare to teach the course. The core reading list is the list of works that you are likely to assign to your students in the course.

How important is it that my course and study plan expand my scholarly range?

It is very important. Reviewers will take into account your previous research and teaching areas. If you are proposing a course that does not significantly expand those areas, your application will be less competitive. This is also true of applications from multiple faculty members.

Classes of any size are eligible, from small to large. In all cases, be sure to explain how your class will create and sustain intellectual community.

Does the course have to be offered twice within the grant period (between eighteen and thirty-six months)?

Four of us intend to develop the course together. Does each instructor have to offer the course twice within the grant period?

Does the course have to be offered twice within the grant period (between eighteen and thirty-six months)?

Are there examples of funded proposals from past NEH Enduring Questions competitions?

The $15,000 stipend supports the development of a new humanities course. The stipend is intended to allow faculty to devote the time and energy necessary to read extensively for and plan the course.

If more than one faculty member is working on the development of the course, how should the stipend be divided among multiple faculty members?

May I take less than $15,000 for my stipend in order to allow more money in the budget for other costs?

Does the $15,000 stipend or another element within the $25,000 budget pay for teaching the course?

My institution needs to include fringe benefits in the budget. Are fringe benefits taken out of the $15,000 amount or calculated on top of it?

Fringe benefits are ordinarily calculated on top of the stipend, unless your institutional policy dictates otherwise.

I see that the maximum grant amount is $25,000. After budgeting $15,000 for the stipend, what can the remaining $10,000 be used for?

The remaining $10,000 may be used for any of the following items: books and other materials necessary for course development; funding for ancillary student activities (e.g., attending plays, concerts, or museum exhibitions); consulting services, such as expert advice for the development of the course’s content; digital consulting services to develop a digital humanities component, such as a project website; costs incurred in publicizing and disseminating the course; indirect costs; and fringe benefits.

What other funding opportunities are available at NEH for research and for teaching in the humanities?

Applicants whose focus is primarily on individual scholarly research leading to publication should consult Summer Stipends, Fellowships, and other NEH research grant programs. Applicants interested in offering or participating in professional development programs should consult Summer Seminars and Institutes for school teachers and for college and university teachers, Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for school teachers and for community college faculty, and other NEH education grant programs.

Applicants whose projects focus primarily on using or studying the impact of digital technology should consult Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants and other NEH digital humanities grant programs.

Applicants at eligible institutions may wish to consult Humanities Initiatives, for projects to strengthen humanities education and scholarship at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. Eligible applicants may also wish to consult Awards for Faculty, for individual research fellowships available to faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.

NEH program officers are available to respond to questions not covered in this document. Staff members may be reached at (202) 606-8380 and at enduringquestions@neh.gov. NEH staff members do not read and comment on draft proposals.

All applications will receive peer review. Using the evaluation criteria listed in Section V of the application guidelines, teachers and scholars in the humanities will convene in panels to read and rate your application. NEH staff will compile a slate of recommended applications based on the panelists’ comments and ratings. The National Council on the Humanities will review the recommendations and provide additional insights. All advice—from the panelists, staff, and National Council—will be sent to the NEH Chairman. By law, only the Chairman is empowered to make an award.

Applications for NEH Enduring Questions grants must be received by Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on September 15, 2011. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted.

NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the day of the deadline. Doing so will leave you time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind. The Grants.gov help desk is now available seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day (except on federal holidays), at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e-mail message to support@grants.gov.

After you sign and submit the application, a confirmation page appears. This page includes the Grants.gov tracking number and other important information. Note the Grants.gov tracking number and save or print the confirmation page for your records.

These messages are normally sent within twenty-four hours of the submission, but minor delays could occur in the event of heavy system usage.

If you do not receive these messages, or if the messages indicate that the application has been rejected, contact Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) at 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726) or support@grants.gov. Include the Grants.gov tracking number in correspondence regarding the application.