Historic Southern Indiana

Darrel Bigham Historic Southern Indiana
Faculty Engagement Fellowship
Summer 2009

Call for Proposals
Application Deadline: Monday, November 3, 2008

Historic Southern Indiana, an outreach and engagement program of the University of Southern Indiana, will award one summer fellowship of $4,000 to a member of the faculty in any discipline taught in the various colleges of USI. The project may begin in the summer of 2009 and must be completed by the end of the spring semester in 2010.

HSI was created in 1986 to serve a region of 26 counties in southern Indiana. Its goals are to identify, preserve, protect, enhance, and promote the historical, natural and recreational resources of the region. It seeks to implement those goals through programs in historic preservation, history education, heritage tourism, community development, and scenic byways. HSI is part of Extended Services.

Sample projects might include (but are not limited to):
• Consulting (Examples: assisting in the creation of corridor master plans for one or both scenic byways or in the preparation of community or organizational strategic plans)
• Research (Examples: preparation of a background study for an exhibit or an interpretive plan, of studies about patterns of visitation at historic sites, or of studies of the economic impact of visitation)
• Service Learning (Example: preparation and implementation of a service learning component relating to some aspect of Historic Southern Indiana in a class or classes during the 2009-2010 academic year)
• Creation of Workshops/Institutes (Examples: preparation and implementation of teacher enhancement workshops connecting the classroom to the region, hospitality training programs, or workshops designed to enhance the quality of interpretation in communities)

Eligibility
1. Applicants must hold full-time, tenured, or tenure-track positions and at the time of application may not be pursuing a terminal degree required for the field position.

2. Preference will be given to applicants who identify a regional external partner organization which will directly benefit from this project.

3. Applications for course development, faculty development, departmental curriculum development, or institutional research activities are not eligible.

Fellowship Information
The Darrel Bigham Faculty Engagement Fellowship provides one $4,000 salary stipend to support scholarly work in the areas of consulting, research, service learning, or creation of workshops/institutes by USI faculty. The award will be announced at the January Faculty meeting. Half of the stipend will be awarded by May 31, 2009 with the remaining portion to be awarded upon project completion. The award will be paid out as a personal stipend through payroll. The award may be used to pay for project expenses at the recipient’s preference.

Allowable Activities (Definition of Research)
The Darrel Bigham Historic Southern Indiana Faculty Engagement Fellowship provides for faculty projects that have demonstrated benefit in the 26 county HSI region. Counties include: Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Ohio, Orange, Perry, Pike, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Spencer, Switzerland, Vanderburgh, Washington, and Warrick.

Selection Process
One Darrel Bigham Historic Southern Indiana Faculty Engagement Fellowship will be issued annually for the summer with completion occurring no later than the following spring. The selection committee will consist of the Dean of Extended Services, the director of HSI, and up to 3 HSI Advisory Board members.

Application Instructions
1. Complete the Darrel Bigham Historic Southern Indiana Faculty Engagement Fellowship Cover Page with signature of the applicant’s college dean.

2. Attach a project description addressing the following criteria (The project description is limited to no more than five double-spaced pages using a type font no smaller than 12 point.):
• Project goals and objectives
• Plan of implementation and timeline for development and completion
• Feasibility statement
• Relevance to the applicant’s discipline(s),
• Benefit to Historic Southern Indiana
• Proposed budget

3. Submit the original signed application and one electronic copy to Heather Dragoo, Sponsored Research Office, Wright Administration Building, 104-K, gssr@usi.edu no later than 4:30 p.m. on November 3, 2008.

Award Criteria
1. Clarity of objectives and project description
2. Feasibility—the ability to complete the project by the end of the spring semester, 2010
3. Relevance to the applicant’s academic discipline(s) and benefit to the applicant’s professional development
4. Benefit to Historic Southern Indiana and its constituents

Reporting Requirement
The fellowship recipient is required to submit a brief report (1 -2 pages maximum) or copy of the completed work by May 18, 2010.

Acknowledgment
All work resulting from the Darrel Bigham Faculty Engagement Fellowship must include an acknowledgement of Historic Southern Indiana.

For further information contact:
Leslie Townsend, director of Historic Southern Indiana, Orr Center 1064, 465-7013, ltownsen@usi.edu

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