Skip to main content
West Virginia University WVU Faculty

IDEA Faculty Fellows Program

Request for Proposals

The Assistant Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is seeking proposals from faculty at WVU Morgantown, WVU Institute of Technology and Potomac State College for the third cohort of IDEA Faculty Fellows.

A spirit of innovation, design and entrepreneurship is an essential tool for career success and serves to enhance multidisciplinary appreciation, yield advanced solutions and provide novel insights. However, this spirit is often underserved by a pedagogical approach to teaching within a discipline. The IDEA Faculty Fellows program presents an opportunity for faculty to become involved by directly creating curriculum to enhance student skills in the areas of innovation, design and entrepreneurship. In addition, Fellows will form a cohort and work with the Assistant Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Morgantown and other like-minded faculty members at WVU’s Morgantown campus, WVU Tech and Potomac State College to recommend activities and initiatives and act as cross-campus champions of entrepreneurship education.

West Virginia University has embarked on a comprehensive cross-campus innovation, design and entrepreneurship initiative. The goals of this initiative are to:

  • Infuse innovation, design and entrepreneurship as a way to think, learn and succeed for all students regardless of major,
  • Provide students with multiple pathways to engage, apply and expand innovation, design and entrepreneurship to align with their personal level of interest and career aspirations,
  • Create a coordinated, strategic approach to innovation, design and entrepreneurship education and foster a collaborative and supportive academic culture for faculty and students.

WVU takes a broad view of innovation, design and entrepreneurship. While self-employment and business development are critical outcomes of entrepreneurship education, they are not the only outcomes. To encourage a cross-disciplinary approach to the entrepreneurial mindset, proposals incorporating social entrepreneurship, design thinking, product design, technology development, emergent organizational ideas and innovation will also be considered. Since entrepreneurship will not likely be a faculty member’s primary discipline, IDEA Fellows will be provided with extensive training and professional development in entrepreneurship. The Fellows will be required to participate in specific training and will have the opportunity to request support for additional training specific to their proposal and niche areas of interest.

PROGRAM DETAILS

  • This program is open to WVU Morgantown, WVU Institute of Technology and Potomac State College tenure- and non-tenure track faculty members regardless of rank, including Teaching, Research and Clinical Professors, with time that can be allocated to this effort. FEAPs and Librarian faculty who have a teaching assignment or offer related programming are also eligible. Adjunct instructors are not eligible. A requirement is that the IDEA Fellow faculty member must have an assignment that permits teaching the course in the future.
  • Leadership for this program will be provided by Dr. Carrie White, Assistant Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Provost’s office on WVU’s main campus.
  • Interested faculty will propose a new course or modification of an existing course that will directly support the goals of the cross-campus entrepreneurship initiative. Although the primary focus is on the teaching of innovation, design and entrepreneurship, use of a novel teaching paradigm may also contribute to the goals.
  • The application must include a letter of support from the faculty member’s division/department chair and an endorsement from the dean stating that (i) the faculty member will be given permission to offer the course or program at least one time during BOTH the 2019-2020 and the 2020-2021 academic years and (ii) that the faculty member will be free to attend the training described below. The offering can be part of the faculty member’s normal assignment or in addition to it, as determined with their supervisor.
  • Each Fellow will receive a $5,000 salary supplement that could be used as summer salary, or as salary enhancement during the course or program development, as approved by the chair and dean.
  • In addition, the Fellow may apply for up to $500 in grant funding during the semester that the course or project is being offered. This grant may be used to pay a student worker or offset other costs of the program or course.
  • The Fellows will meet regularly with the Assistant Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to refine their idea and report progress. The full cohort will meet monthly to share their experiences, receive additional training and make recommendations for improving and expanding entrepreneurship across campus. These meetings may be in person or via teleconference and may include other cohorts of IDEA Fellows.
  • Fellows will serve for two years. Course development compensation occurs in year one only. Training and limited grant funding opportunities will continue during year two, and Fellows are encouraged to seek external funding to advance their efforts further.
  • The second cohort of IDEA Fellows will be named by early March 2019 and should be prepared to attend out-of-town training May 27-31, 2019.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested faculty should submit the following:

  • A letter of interest explaining their desire to be part of the program and why they feel they would be a good champion for innovation, design and entrepreneurship education on their campus.
  • A curriculum vitae or resume.
  • A proposal, not to exceed 3 pages, detailing plans for a new course or revision of an existing course. In addition to the items outlined below, the proposal should explain how it directly relates to the goals of the cross-campus innovation, design and entrepreneurship program.
    • Modification of an Existing Course proposals should include the existing syllabus of the course to be modified and a detailed description the modifications including revised course objectives, expected learning outcomes and possible course activities or projects.
    • New Course proposals should include a course description, course objectives, expected learning outcomes and possible course activities or projects.

All proposals should describe the target audience (preference is given to proposals that allow students from multiple majors to participate) and expected number of students served. Courses that meet requirements or restricted elective towards degree programs or acceptance in the GEF are favored. Proposals with strong experiential learning and/or problem-based learning components will be given preference.

  • The faculty member’s availability to participate in out-of-town training May 27-31, 2019 is a major factor for participation in this program.
  • Letter(s) of su pport from both the faculty member’s division/department chair and the dean should include the following:1. A statement that, if selected, the faculty member will deliver the course or activity to the described audience in both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years.2. A discussion of the faculty member’s ability to collaborate and be an effective champion for entrepreneurship across campus.

    • The proposal documents should be combined into a single PDF file and emailed to cwhite17@mail.wvu.edu by midnight February 28, 2019. No late applications will be considered.

    SELECTION PROCESS

    The proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee consisting of the Assistant Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a representative or designee from the Provost’s office at WVU Tech and the Dean of Academic Affairs’ office at Potomac State College and an existing IDEA Fellow. Top candidates will be invited to interview with members of the selection committee.

    Selection Criteria

    • Proposal’s alignment to existing programs or courses and with goals of the cross-campus innovation, design and entrepreneurship program including:
      • Clearly defined course/project objectives o Expected learning outcomes
      • Potential activities and projects - especially those that include experiential and problem-based learning.
      • Credit towards a degree program
    • Anticipated number, level and major of the students served• Faculty member’s enthusiasm for the program and ability to collaborate with the cohort,

    Notifications will be made on or before March 8, 2019.Please address all questions to Dr. Carrie White at cwhite17@mail.wvu.edu or 293-9391.