Ethics, Society, & Tech Faculty College

2023-24 Request for Proposals

Program Overview

Building on the success of the previous Faculty Colleges run by VPUE, the Ethics, Society, & Technology (EST) Faculty College will bring small faculty teams together over the course of the academic year to plan, study, and develop innovative curricular and pedagogical ideas that advance education about the ethical and societal implications of technology. It provides these faculty teams with the space, time, and resources to work collaboratively on projects such as new team-taught courses, changes to a department’s overall curriculum, or new cross-disciplinary teaching endeavors. Courses, methods, or programs developed here may be the seeds for larger grants from foundations or government funding agencies to further develop ideas explored in the EST Faculty College.

Faculty will attend the EST Faculty College in teams of between two and five members, depending on the nature of the project. The objective is to keep the size of the teams as flexible as possible to effectively serve the needs of the specific project.

EST Faculty College will convene two times in plenary session, beginning with one kick off meeting in June 2023 to orient faculty to the program and to introduce teams to program resources and to one another. Each team will be expected on their own to hold two to three meetings each quarter to work on their projects. In addition to the June 2023 meeting, there will be a wrap up meeting in April 2024 that will bring all the teams together to report back on what they accomplished.

Apply by Friday, March 31, 2023 at 11:59 pm PT

Eligibility

Departmental or interdisciplinary faculty teams may apply. Teams may also include instructors who are not members of the Academic Council but must be composed primarily of tenure-line faculty. Any non-Academic Council members must have a regular on-going Stanford appointment. Payment will be subject to HR and Faculty Affairs approvals.

Projects may be at any stage of development, from courses or innovations that will be implemented in 2023-24 to longer-term projects that are projected for implementation a year or two later. They should, however, be planned as long-term ongoing reforms rather than one-time events, even if large-scale.

Resources and Support

  • An honorarium for participation of $8,500 for each team member. Team leaders will receive an additional $1,500 honorarium. In lieu of honorarium, participants may elect to have equivalent payment made to the department for replacement teaching. The first half of the honorarium will be paid after the first plenary session; the second half after the successful completion of the program.
  • A project budget of up to $7,000 per team to facilitate activities during the term of the project, subject to EST Hub budget approval. Eligible expenses include books and materials, workshops, retreats, guest speakers, conferences or site visits, and student activities. Some restrictions on food and travel expenses apply; administrative support for such activities is the responsibility of team members and their departments.
  • Research assistant support up to 25% time for four quarters.
  • A consultation with an Interdisciplinary or General Ethics postdoctoral scholar at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society for support with identifying relevant normative resources and materials for course development.
  • Access to a repository of ethics and tech teaching resources, including case studies and syllabi.

Participant Obligations

Faculty participating in the EST Faculty College must sign a contract agreeing to attend all College meetings and at least monthly team meetings. In addition, the team leader agrees to convene team meetings, serve as team liaison with the EST Hub for requests made of the team, write a brief report on lessons learned at the end of the year, and submit the team’s final product.

Proposal Guidelines

To apply to participate in the EST Faculty College, teams should submit a proposal including the following:

1. Goals: A description of the project and its potential impact on undergraduate and/or graduate ethics and technology education, including an explanation of how it is innovative and what important needs it addresses. Explain how the Faculty College structure and resources will enable the team to do something that would not otherwise be possible. Please include a preliminary analysis of the anticipated student and/or faculty audiences and their needs.

2. Team Composition: A list of team members with their affiliations, role on the team, and contact information.

3. Project Timeline and Reporting Plan: A timeline for work on the project during the Faculty College program, including anticipated benchmarks for each quarter, and a description of the final product the team anticipates submitting (along with a brief reflective report) in April 2024. This product might be a detailed syllabus, innovative assignments, a new teaching tool, or anything else that will be a helpful outcome for the project.

4. Implementation Plan: A description of plans to implement the project and sustain its innovations in future years.

5. Department, Program, or School Support: The endorsement and evaluation of the value of the proposed project from a department chair, program director, or dean (in the form of a brief letter or email attached to the proposal).

Deadline and Review Process

The deadline for proposals for the 2023-24 Faculty College program is Friday, March 31, 2023. Selection of teams will be made in early Spring Quarter. A faculty review committee will select among proposals. Selection criteria will include:

  • Creativity: the potential for curricular transformation or pedagogical innovation.
  • Impact: the significance of the project and its likely sustainability.
  • Interdisciplinarity: draws on expertise and/or participation from more than one discipline.
  • Ethics and Societal Implications of Tech Development: centers mitigating the negative implications of science and technology development on society.
  • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Project teams carefully consider who is represented on the project team, how labor is distributed and compensated, and whether the project deliverables promote diversity and equity in education and course content.

For questions, please email Ashlyn Jaeger (ajaeger <at> stanford.edu).