Letter of Commitment

We will require each partner in the working group to obtain a letter of commitment from their institution. Such a letter would need to be signed by a chair, fiscal officer, or similar stating that the partner would be allowed to participate as they have outlined and will be able to be paid when they plan to work. This letter should also indicate that the budgeted amounts in the proposal are correct from the university standpoint (e.g., compensation and fringe rates outlined in the budget are correct).

For example, if a partner has proposed that they work during the academic year, is that partner being paid for a course release? Will they be allowed to take that course release as planned by their department? If the partner is on an academic year contract and propose to be paid during the summer and there are no foreseeable issues with that from the department/university side, the letter would state this.

Detailed Full Proposal

In general, more detail is expected in each of the areas addressed in the Letter of Intent. Make sure you address any comments sent to you by the reviewers of your letter of intent.  

• Personnel and Context 
  • Identify the key personnel that would participate as a working group. 
    • Give a brief description of each person’s background 
      • Include familiarity with online materials development and open resources 
      • Include experience working collaboratively 
    • State why each person would like to participate in this project 
    • Specify how you intend to collaborate and get the work done in the proposed time frame (see action plan bullet point below) 
  • Describe the language program for the selected language at each institution: 
    • What levels are currently taught? What are the enrollment numbers? What actions you are willing to undertake for long-term maintenance of the selected language?  
  • Describe the state of the support nationally for the instruction of your language. 
  • Project Description including creation of open materials 
• Strategic Collaboration Plan
  • Outline your strategic coordination plan across the participating institutions, including several measurable outcomes. Take a look at the original call for proposals for questions you may consider while addressing this point. (All efforts don’t need to be 100% developed, as you can work in your planning stages to expand this, but should be more than just “looking at possibilities.”)
• Proposed Timeline 
  • When does your group plan to execute this project based on the Project Timeline details?  
• Detailed budget calculations (including how many hours your estimate you will spend on the project, cost per hour/% of salary, etc.) These figures should be double checked by your institution to ensure compliance with fringe rates, salary rate, etc.  
  • NO indirect costs allowed, per sponsor guidelines.
  • Award: up to $30,000 per group 

Evaluation

Working group proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria: 

• Completeness and feasibility of proposal (including budget amounts)
• Instructor group strength and potential to collaborate effectively 
• Pedagogy (e.g., focus on proficiency-, task-, project-based teaching approach) and transformational impact 
• Demonstrated need of support (institutional and national) in the language 
• Strategic Collaboration plan – continuing impact on the involved institutions and others instructors in the nation

Deadline

March 27, 2023

Submission

Please submit all materials (letter of commitment and full proposal) in an email to Dr. Emily Heidrich Uebel. Emily will confirm receipt of materials as soon as possible – if you have not received a reply within one full working day, please follow up to confirm.