Teach Access Faculty Grants

To accelerate the creation and delivery of accessibility-infused college curricula, Teach Access provides monetary awards to higher education faculty to develop curriculum enhancements that introduce the fundamental concepts and skills of accessibility into their existing courses.

Call for Proposals

Reminder: These awards are intended for the introduction and promotion of accessibility knowledge in course content (also known as “teaching accessibility”) and not for the accessibility retrofit or remediation of existing instructional materials or content (also known as “teaching accessibly”).

Please also check out the application questions and our frequently asked questions.

Faculty Grant Application
teach access logo with "faculty grants" written underneath

Overview

To accelerate the creation and delivery of accessibility-infused college curricula, Teach Access will be providing direct awards to full-time, part-time, adjunct faculty, or instructional staff at US-based institutions (including US Territories) of higher education (community colleges, two-year colleges/universities, and four-year universities). Awards of $1,000-$5,000 each will be given to faculty to develop modules, presentations, exercises or curriculum enhancements or changes that introduce the fundamental concepts and skills of accessible design and development into their existing courses.

The awards are intended to support ways for faculty to incorporate teaching about accessibility into their existing courses, rather than requesting the creation of a completely new course.  To expand the impact of the awards, award recipients will be required to present their work at appropriate venues within their institutions as well as in the Teach Access Curriculum Repository. Awardees are also encouraged to present their innovative work at conferences, symposia, and workshops.

Teach Access is committed to equity and supporting a variety of faculty and institutions. Faculty from a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU), Community College (CC), and/or Tribal College and University (TCU) are highly encouraged to apply.

Faculty Grant Funding and Support

Financial support for the awards is being provided through sponsorship from corporate members of Teach Access. Award payments will funnel to faculty through their universities and colleges. Teach Access faculty grants do not allow the charge of any indirect institutional costs. Total funding may not exceed $5,000. These funds may be used in flexible ways to support staff salary and benefits, summer salary, extra-contract work, or student employees. Funds can also support travel, materials and supplies, or other project expenses.

As part of the application process, faculty will self-select into a Faculty Grant Tier. Upon review of your application, Teach Access reserves the right to offer a Faculty Grant award that may differ from the original selection. Below are general examples of what could be included in a faculty grant application for each of the award levels.

Tier 1: $1,000 Faculty Grant Award

Recipients of a Tier 1 grant should demonstrate a basic understanding of accessibility. Tier 1 proposed projects might incorporate, for example:

    • Using curriculum from the repository and incorporating into course
    • Inviting a speaker to discuss or engage learners in topics related to inclusive design and development of technology
    • Developing one assignment, lecture, and/or activity that promotes accessibility-infused college curricula

Tier 2: $2,500 Faculty Grant Award

Recipients of a Tier 2 grant should demonstrate an understanding of accessibility. Teach Access grants such as Tier 2 proposed projects might incorporate, for example:

    • Developing several assignments, lectures, and/or activities that promote accessibility-infused college curricula
    • Entry point for subject matter/discipline not currently represented in Teach Access Curriculum Repository.
    • Faculty intend to share accessibility-infused curricular resources with other instructors within their program, college, or university

Tier 3: $5,000 Faculty Grant Award

Recipients of a Tier 3 grant should demonstrate a great understanding of accessibility. Teach Access grants such as Tier 3 proposed projects might incorporate, for example:

    • Developing multiple course goals, assignments, lectures, and/or activities that promote accessibility-infused college curricula 
    • Content that is intended to be used over multiple sections or multiple semesters
    • Curricular content that is easy to reproduce over time across different institutions (replicable and scalable)
    • Faculty have articulated a plan to share accessibility-infused curricular resources with other instructors beyond their home institution
    • Applicant shows a great understanding of accessibility, including the integration of current WCAG or discipline-specific standards or expectations within the proposed content

Outfitters4 (https://www.outfitters4.com/) operates as the finance department for Teach Access and will be managing the dispersal of funds.

Required Activities and Deliverables

  • It is the expectation that course materials developed as a result of these awards will be accessible (following WCAG 2.1 standards) and made broadly available. Please see Teach Access’ resources for creating accessible courses.
  • Course materials will be posted to the Teach Access Curriculum Repository. Materials will be posted with a Creative Commons license allowing for use by other faculty, so long as proper citation has been given to the original author.
  • Award recipients will be required to show evidence that they have made at least one presentation of their new course components to other faculty and administrators within their institutions, via appropriate mechanisms such as faculty meetings, school-wide presentations, department meetings, central curriculum-sharing tools, or similar means.
  • Pre- and post-testing of student knowledge of accessibility information will be required of award recipients; Teach Access will provide the set of key questions about technology accessibility to be administered to students. Results of the tests will be made available to each grantee, and answers will be anonymous and will not be used to determine student grades for their respective courses.
  • Faculty awardees will be asked to submit to Teach Access a summary report on their curriculum development, student outcomes, institutional impact, and the perceived impact.

Limitations

  • Awards are not intended to require the development of completely new courses but rather innovative ways of incorporating the fundamentals into existing courses.
  • No institutional overhead or indirect costs will be allowed.
  • Proposals must include an explanation of how award funds will be spent, and award recipients will be expected to use the funds appropriately to further the mission of Teach Access.
  • These awards are intended for the introduction and promotion of accessibility knowledge in course content. It is not the intent of these funds to be used solely for the accessibility retrofit or remediation of existing instructional materials or content. Award recipients are expected to produce materials that conform to established accessibility standards. Please see Teach Access’ resources for creating accessible courses. 
  • If award recipients do not teach the courses proposed for enhancement, do not administer the pre-/post-surveys, and/or fail to provide a final report Teach Access reserves the right to rescind the funds.

Principal Point of Contact and FAQs

For all questions related to this competition, please email facultygrants@teachaccess.org. Teach Access will maintain a public list of questions and answers during the application period, for any questions not already answered in this document.

Please also check out our frequently asked questions.

Criteria for Selection

Submissions will be judged on impact, outreach, sustainability, and evaluation plans. Faculty who have not taught accessibility topics in their courses before are particularly encouraged to apply.

Eligibility

Faculty members (full-time, part-time, or adjunct) or instructional staff who meet following criteria:

  • Have read our FAQs page
  • Instructor of an existing course in any  field/discipline that can incorporate curricula designed to impact a student’s knowledge of fundamental accessibility concepts and skills and their ability to implement the principles of accessibility. 
  • Instructor at a two- or four-year university or college in the United States
  • Preference will be given to instructors who have not received a past Teach Access Faculty Grant. If you are a previous grantee and you wish to receive consideration for this round of awards, you may submit an application for a different course than previously awarded.
  • Planning to teach this course in the 2023-2024 academic year. Teach Access reserves the right to rescind award funds if your course is not taught in this timeframe.

To apply

  1. First, read our Frequently Asked Questions
  2. Then, review the list of application questions and prepare your answers.
  3. Once you have prepared your answers to the above questions, submit your Faculty Grant application form by 11:00 pm ET (8:00 pm Pacific Time) on Sunday, April 16, 2023 (Note: you must be logged in using a Google account in order to complete this form.)