Manresa Project

Course Development Fund for Vocation Discernment in the Disciplines

Guidelines for Proposals

Date:  March 2008

Deadline for Proposals: May 5, 2008

 

CONTENTS:____________________________

• Program summary
• Eligibility
• Award Levels
• Recipient Expectations
• Examples of Fundable Teaching Awards
• Proposal Narrative Format
• Application Procedures

PROGRAM SUMMARY___________________________

Through the generosity of the Lilly Endowment, Inc., the Manresa Project at Marquette University is a $2.5 million grant-funded program focused on the “Theological Exploration of Vocation.”  The key word is “exploration.”  Elements of Manresa are designed to help undergraduate students, faculty, and staff at Marquette ask important questions about life, meaning, purpose, life’s journey, and using one’s gifts and talents to meet the needs of the world.

The Manresa Project intersects with the mission of Marquette University and its Ignatian/Jesuit roots in the hopes that our students graduate as “women and men for others,” that they are able to see how faith is interwoven with life, and that their moral decisions and behavior are consistent with a call to a life of faith and service to others whether within a chosen profession, in their  family life, or in their volunteer commitments.

A key element of the Manresa Project is the Course Development Fund for Vocation Discernment in the Disciplines.  Through this fund faculty are encouraged to create new or enhance existing courses that explicitly help students engage issues of faith, service, morality, and/or justice in order to discern their vocations: that is, how their gifts and talents can be used to meet and address the world’s hunger and needs.  Discernment is at the heart of Ignatian spirituality, an invitation to deepen one’s life in Christ by asking the fundamental question, “What am I called by God to do with my life?” 

 

ELIGIBILITY               ___________________________

Full and part-time faculty are invited to apply for Manresa Course Development Awards to:

• Significantly redesign existing undergraduate courses

• Create new courses

• Collaborate with colleagues to create interdisciplinary courses

• Consider core curriculum assessment outcomes in their course design

GRANT AWARD LEVELS____________________________

The typical award for a three-credit course has a base of $3000 (plus benefits).  Multiple authors and teams presenting proposals will need to determine and state appropriate prorated allocation of the award in their proposal.

Initial award of $500/per course (which can be used for books, materials, videos, etc.), will be given on acceptance of the proposal, with the remaining funds given when the course is taught. All awards will be paid as salary dollars.

RECIPIENT EXPECTATIONS________________________

If awarded a grant, recipients will be expected to:

• Develop a plan for either a new course or a significant revision of an existing course
• Participate in one meeting per semester with an interdisciplinary group of recipients during the academic year
• Teach the course at least once in the three semesters following notice of the award
• Recruit and serve as a mentor to at least one other faculty member
• Submit an annual summary report to the Manresa Project

EXAMPLES OF FUNDABLE TEACHING AWARDS_____

• Courses that explore vocation as a major theme: in Christian (especially Catholic) traditions; enabling students to view their academic studies or profession from a faith perspective; helping students experience the intersection between their chosen life’s work and their faith
• Courses that include methods of and opportunities for reflection, particularly in the Ignatian tradition; that help students integrate fundamental questions of life, justice, mission, purpose and meaning as they respond to God’s unique call to them
• Courses that include service-learning as a meaningful option in helping students understand their response to the needs of the community, that help students identify the needs of the world and see ways in which their gifts and talents might address those needs
• Courses that include a set of readings, speakers, or experiences that highlight the lives of prominent individuals, both living and dead, who have responded to a sense of call or mission in their own lives
• Courses that lead students to take active steps in discerning their own call in a chosen life as single, married, religious, ordained or in consecrated life
• Courses which provide research and publication potential on vocation within a particular discipline
• Courses that encourage students to reflect on their roles in a global society and learn about the lives of diverse people

PROPOSAL NARRATIVE FORMAT_____________

 

 YOUR PROPOSAL NARRATIVE MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SIX NUMBERED POINTS IN THE ORDER THEY ARE LISTED HERE.  IDENTIFY EACH POINT WITH A SEPARATE NUMBERED HEADING, THEN ADDRESS IT.  YOUR PROPOSAL IS LIMITED TO FOUR PAGES.

1. List clear and measurable objectives for vocation exploration.
2. Does a meaningful service learning component fit into this course?
3. How will opportunities for reflection and dialogue about vocation be built into the course?
4. How will this course respond to Marquette's transformational education to prepare women and men for others? How does this course intersect with the key elements of Marquette's mission: faith, service, leadership and excellence?  How does this course mesh with the fundamental values outlined in the university core curriculum assessment and preamble?  See http://www.marquette.edu/coreinfo/preamble.shtml and http://www.marquette.edu/coreinfo/faculty.shtml for current information.
5. Are there opportunities for research or publication inherent in this course?  Example:  some faculty have found there were avenues for research/publication on student vocational perceptions.
6. Assessment methods

    

   • What methods will you use to evaluate student learning of Manresa-related course content?  [Individual student assessment, this should tie in with point #1 and #3]
   • How will you assess the accomplishment of the goals of the Manresa Project? [Program assessment, that is, how would we tell others what did or did not work regarding guiding students in vocational discernment?
   Note:  We do not expect that all applications will propose a service learning component (point #2) or plan research/publication (point #5)

APPLICATION PROCEDURES__________________

Applicant must submit five copies of the following materials:

The completed and signed application form (see attached)

• An abstract of 150 words or less
• A narrative that describes the course and addresses the criteria above. (The narrative should be no more than four pages and no less than 11-point type with 1-inch margins).
• An updated curriculum vitae
• Any documentation (limited to 5 pages) the applicant wishes to provide that supports the application (e.g. syllabus/reading list etc.)
• Original syllabus of an enhanced course – what will be changed? What is new?

Submit all application documents by May 5, 2008 to:

Manresa Award Selection Board

The Manresa Project

707 Building, Room 332 

 

For Print Version of Course Proposal Application 

 

 

ON-CAMPUS RESOURCES

• Office of Student Development
• University Ministry
• University Mission & Identity
• Faber Center for Ignatian Spirituality
• Mission Week
• Gesu Parish

OFF-CAMPUS RESOURCES

• Lilly Endowment Inc. (PTEV)
• Lilly Endowment Inc. (FTE)
• Catholics On Call (CTU)
• Making the Parts Whole
• Vocation
• Jesuit Retreat House (Oshkosh)
• Casa Romero Renewal Center

 

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Find Your Potential Through The Manresa Project

You begin a journey each day you travel, every encounter with another person, every decision you make — big or small — which forms the road you're on. Your answers will lead you through something called discernment. See what questions you will want to ask yourself.