To ensure workshops meet project goals and harmonize key components across diverse topics, each proposal must address the following elements, based on the literature on PD for college instructors and our team’s experience:

• Active-learning pedagogies that are the central objectives for workshop participants, explicitly connected to the framework of the MAA IP Guide and supported by workshop activities;
• Goals to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion, after the MAA IP Guide on “equity in practice”
• The ways in which active learning and DEI will be explicitly modeled in the workshop;
• A plan for creating and supporting a sense of community among workshop participants;
• Pre-workshop activities to provide background, establish workshop norms, and build community;
• A plan for strategic use of asynchronous and synchronous professional learning strategies;
• Required deliverables from each participant, such as learning objectives, syllabi, presentations, videos, problem sequences, teaching modules, projects, reflections, or designs for activities;
• A plan for follow-on activities and networking into the subsequent academic year, to support participants’ implementation (e.g., managing coverage concerns) and to further build community;
• Bio sketches of the workshop leaders, including their expertise and the constituencies they represent, with a preference for broad representation and at least one emerging leader on the team;
• A budget of up to $12,000, to cover stipends for leaders and presenters as well as any materials, software, or license fees associated with delivering the workshop.

No, they don’t need to be MAA members. While project personnel credentials are a factor in making a funding decision, their MAA membership status does not affect their chances of getting a grant.

Applications will be accepted from college and university mathematical sciences faculty at accredited U.S. (including U.S. Territory) or Canadian institutions.

An important component of the funded project is the evaluation of effective practices, and that evaluation plan depends on maintaining a manageable number of variables. 

To maintain some consistency, we ask summer workshop leaders to provide 20-30 hours of direct instruction, not counting pre-activities or readings. Additionally, we expect that workshops will have some post-workshop follow-up, such as a formal check-in toward the end of the subsequent academic term. Workshops in the Learning Community format will have different expectations.

• Each approved summer workshop will have a budget of up to $12,000 to pay leaders and presenters as well as any other direct cost of running the workshop.

To encourage including a large enough team of facilitators and panelists, we cap individual stipends at $4,000. We also encourage workshop teams to reflect on the diversity of experience and backgrounds among the team members. One goal of the OPEN Math project is to grow and nurture the community of professional development facilitators, and we want the widest possible range of voices within this community. The MAA will provide a Zoom link that you can use (unless you prefer your institution’s tools), so that is not part of your budget. 

Workshops during the academic year will have budgets based on size and duration since their formats can vary greatly. Contact Doug Ensley at dougensley@gmail.com to discuss this in advance.

Please note that, according to NSF policies and procedures, workshop facilitators must complete the workshop and submit the required paperwork to be paid their stipends. Stipend processing can take up to 30 days after the requirements are completed.

In addition to developing and delivering your workshop (with participant follow-up), facilitators are expected to participate in several preparatory and follow-up activities to ensure the success and impact of the program. These include:

• • An orientation session
  • Winter Planning Sessions
  • Pre-workshop meetings with MAA staff, the workshop evaluator, and a mentor
  • Post-workshop reflection meeting with the evaluator
  • Completing a final report for MAA

While these activities are not individually highly time-consuming and do not always require the presence of the entire facilitation team, they are essential for the comprehensive planning and evaluation of the workshop.

We require that newly selected workshop teams participate in three two-hour collaborative, online winter planning meetings in February/March. In these meetings, we’ll exchange resources and ideas and help you hash out your workshop plans in detail. We also require returning workshop teams to participate in the first winter planning session and one of the two following sessions to share their past experience with the new teams. 

Please ensure as many as possible from your team can attend. Please check schedules now – it is important (for the success of the funding grant) that at least two leaders from your workshop participate in these planning meetings

Please visit the Evaluation page to learn more about the evaluation process and how it will impact your workshop.