Butler Funds Faculty Projects
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSeveral Butler University faculty members have received Innovation Fund grants from the school. The projects include a student-produced jazz CD and the establishment of an undergraduate research journal.
August 29, 2013
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — Butler University has awarded $100,000 in grants to faculty to support their ideas for creative, collaborative academic programs.
A student-produced jazz CD, a video series on making financial decisions, and new Butler curricula focused on professional writing and critical listening are some of the projects to be developed under eight Butler Innovation Fund grants, which range from $6,000 to $25,000.
Grants were awarded for:
• Development and integration of critical listening courses within Butler’s curriculum. $15,000. Proposed by Donald Braid (Academic Affairs).
• Establishment of the Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research. $25,000 (three-year grant). Proposed by Ken Colburn (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).
• Establishment of the Center for the Study of Ethnic Relations, Xenophobia, and Diversity. $10,000. Proposed by Antonio Menendez (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).
• Creation of a jazz CD featuring the Butler Jazz Ensemble and a notable guest artist. $8,000. Proposed by Matt Pivec (Jordan College of the Arts).
• Creation of “Students Making Financial Decisions,” a video series illustrating basic economic concepts and their application in everyday life. $8,000. Proposed by William Rieber (College of Business) and Christine Taylor (College of Communication).
• Development of a program aimed at recruiting top undergraduate students through new programming and scholarships. $6,000. Proposed by Doug Spaniol (Jordan College of the Arts), Donald Braid (Academic Affairs), and Judi Morrel (Center for High Achievement and Scholarly Engagement).
• Creation of Butler's “Generation Rx,” an educational program for increasing public awareness of prescription medication misuse and abuse. $6,000. Proposed by Tracy Sprunger (College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences) and Samantha Christie (pharmacy student).
• Development of professional writing courses and establishment of a professional writing track within Butler’s Department of English. $22,000 (three-year grant). Proposed by William Watts (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).
“The grant recipients and their projects' novel approaches reflect Butler's openness to new ideas, change, and creativity,” said Jason Range, director of the Innovation Fund.
University President James M. Danko conceived the Innovation Fund in 2011 as a “venture capital” source to foster campus creativity and academic excellence.
Representatives of all six of Butler’s colleges submitted more than 70 project proposals for the initial 2013 funding round. Ten projects received $300,000 in grant funding in February, during the round’s first phase.
About Butler University
Butler is a nationally recognized comprehensive university encompassing six colleges: Arts, Business, Communication, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Together, these colleges offer more than 60 undergraduate majors, eight pre-professional majors, one first professional, and 19 master’s degrees. Around 4,700 students are enrolled at Butler, representing 45 states and 49 countries. Ninety-five percent of Butler students will have participated in some form of internship, student teaching, clinical rotation, research, or service learning by the time they graduate. This community-centered immersion is coupled with classroom learning that nurtures critical thinking, effective communication, cooperative teamwork, and ethical decision making, to prepare students forboth professional success and to have lasting impact in their communities. Butler’s overall placement rate for the class of 2012 was 94 percent, including 19 percent who went on to graduate or professional school.
Source: Butler University