Faculty Professional Development Assignment (FPDA) Application Guidelines

To apply for a Faculty Professional Development Assignment (FPDA), complete the Application Cover Sheet (DOC, 114KB) and append the materials requested below in the order listed. Please contact your college for the required submission format. In preparing and assembling your application, refer to the Faculty Professional Development Assignment Program Overview.

Application Cover Sheet (DOC, 114KB): Attach this completed form to the front of your application and forward to your department chair/school director.

1. Proposal Title

2. Project Abstract (approximately 250 words)

Summarize the proposed activity and the expected outcome of the activity. Describe how the award will benefit research/teaching/students and Iowa State University. Describe how the award will benefit the state of Iowa or society generally.

Use clear and concise language that would be understood easily by a layperson. Write the abstract in third person and in active voice (e.g., Professor Smith will complete research for her book on Shakespeare).

3. Project Description (maximum 5 pages, double-spaced)

Explain the project in terms that an educated reader from outside your field can understand.

Specify:

a. Purpose and significance: Describe the nature and significance of the project, including a clear, concise statement of the objectives for the project and your aims in undertaking it.
b. Work to be accomplished: Describe specifically what you plan to do during the award period. Where will you do the work? Identify persons (if any) with whom you will work.
c. Projected results: What tangible results will your project have, what form will they take, and how and where will you share your results with others (e.g., publication, presentation, exhibition, classes)?

4. Justification (maximum 1 page, double-spaced)

How will the project contribute to your teaching (be specific with course titles, number of students taught)? How will it contribute to your own scholarly development? In what way does this project require a time commitment beyond that involved in the normal activities encompassed in teaching, research, scholarship, and service?

5.  Brief Curriculum Vitae (2 to 5 pages)

Upload a brief (not your complete CV) of your professional employment, duties, and accomplishments. Include a selected list of your professional publications and creative works, with the correct sequence of authors for joint publications. Include other information relevant to evaluating the proposed assignment project.

6. Supervision of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Research Fellows (maximum 1 page, double-spaced):

A faculty member who is the major professor for graduate students or who supervises postdoctoral research scholars is responsible for their continued mentoring while on FPDA. Describe how mentoring on a regular basis will occur. This may include interaction at a distance by email, phone, teleconferencing (e.g., WebEx or Zoom), or other communication means, or identification of a substitute mentor for the duration of the leave.  

Updated March 2023