LCA Professional Development

Three women seated in a classroom facing each other and laughing

The LCA professional development program is committed to providing the opportunities and space for all faculty and staff to thrive as scholars/artists, teachers, professionals and colleagues at all stages of their careers and in alignment with the core values of the college and institution. It is committed to fostering an environment of intellectual exploration through programming that encourages and supports extraordinary ideas, interdisciplinary collaboration and professional growth so that we can thrive, inspire our teaching and learn from each other.

Faculty and Staff Recognition

The LCA Excellence Awards are an opportunity for the College to recognize and honor outstanding faculty and staff. Faculty awards recognize faculty who demonstrate excellence and have made significant contributions in teaching, research and scholarly activity, creative activities, and service. Staff awards recognize staff who provide outstanding service and contribute significantly to the campus.

Award Recipients for 2022:

Hamid Khani, Department of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts - Excellence in Teaching: Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty

Tara Lockhart, Department of English Language and Literature - Excellence in Teaching: Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty

Ayana Aïrakan-Mance, School of Design - Excellence in Teaching: Lecturer Faculty

John L. Holland, Department of English Language and Literature - Excellence in Teaching: Lecturer Faculty

Richard Ortiz, School of Design - Staff Excellence

Jennifer Waller, Department of Philosophy - Staff Excellence

View Past Recipients

Support for General Research and Creative Activity

LCA Faculty Mini-Grant

Awards up to $2,000 for auxiliary expenses for research travel (contingent on the CSU lifting travel restrictions), specialized research equipment, student research assistance, costs of publication, and other expenses inherent in a research or creative project. This grant is open to all LCA full-time tenure-track and tenured faculty. Timing of the call for proposals varies by academic year.

Paul Sherwin Award for Faculty Development

Awards up to $1,000 to support research and creative activity within the college. This award is open to all LCA full-time tenure-track and tenured faculty. Call for proposals occurs in the Fall semester.

LCA Extraordinary Ideas Grants

Awards up to $2,000 to support innovative and creative cross-disciplinary research and activities that result from collaboration across programs, departments, and colleges. These grants are open to all LCA faculty and staff. Each grant proposal must have at least two sponsors from different disciplines/programs/departments within LCA. Call for proposals occurs in the Fall semester. Learn more about the LCA Extraordinary Ideas Grants

Related

Leaves with Pay

Marcus Early Career Research Award (pre-tenure)

Supports the retention, tenure and promotion of probationary faculty who demonstrate an active engagement with their individual field of study. It provides probationary faculty in their third, fourth, or fifth year a one-semester leave with full pay. Call for proposals occurs in the Fall semester. 

The Marcus Early Career Research Award for probationary tenure-track faculty is supported by the George and Judy Marcus Fund for Excellence in the Liberal Arts and aims to promote excellence in faculty scholarship across the disciplines in the College.

The Marcus Early Career Research Award provides probationary faculty in their third, fourth, or fifth year a one-semester leave with full pay.

Eligibility: Faculty must be tenure-track faculty in their second, third, or fourth probationary year during the year of application.

Criteria: Awards are competitive and will be granted on the basis of proposals which demonstrate the ability of the faculty member to accomplish the project within the time-frame of the award, the significance of the activity, the clarity of the proposal, and the need for the award.

Award applications will be reviewed by the LCA Chairs’ Council and Dean Nwankwo.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Interim Associate Dean Gitanjali Shahani by email at gshahani@sfsu.edu.

Marcus Transformative Research Award (post-tenure)

Enables a tenured faculty member to engage in transformational research and professional development that cannot be undertaken in the course of the person's full-time university responsibilities by providing one semester leave with pay and a $3,000 research budget. Call for proposals occurs in the Fall semester. Learn more about the Marcus Transformative Research Award

Presidential Awards for probationary faculty (pre-tenure)

[Not offered this year]

Related

Sabbatical Leaves (post-tenure) and Difference in Pay Leaves (post-tenure) found on the Faculty Affairs Forms page.

Undergraduate Research Support

Marcus Undergraduate Student Assistant Research Grant (faculty-initiated)

Awards $3,000 ($1,000 to the faculty member, $2,000 to the student) to support scholarly and creative activity conducted by undergraduate students and a faculty member in partnership. The grant is open to LCA tenured and tenure-track full-time faculty members and can include up to two students, each of whom would receive $2,000. The application is submitted by the faculty member and student assistants can be chosen after the grant has been awarded. Call for proposals occurs in the Spring semester. Learn more about the Marcus Undergraduate Student Assistant Research Grant

Marcus Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grant (student-initiated)

Awards $4,000 ($3,000 to the student, $1,000 to faculty mentor) to support research and creative activity conducted by LCA undergraduate students in partnership with a faculty mentor. This fellowship opportunity is aimed at undergraduates interested in working closely with a faculty member to develop, complete, and present a research project. The application is submitted by the student in cooperation with their faculty mentor. Call for proposals occurs in the Spring semester. Learn more about the Marcus Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grant

Travel

Given the fiscal uncertainties of the coming year as well as travel restrictions at the university level, the College is amending the LCA Travel Policy.

Funding for Virtual Conference Attendance: The College of Liberal & Creative Arts will provide reimbursements for virtual conference registration of up to $500 per tenured and tenure-track faculty member to present their scholarly work or to serve on a panel as a respondent at one conference during the year.

Related Efforts/Initiatives

College Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)

Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL)

Staff Professional Development

The College of Liberal & Creative Arts is committed to investing in the professional development of its staff and, as such, maintains a budget for this purpose. In order to qualify for professional development funding, participation in a conference, workshop, or training must be relevant to your work. Unlike the faculty travel program, requirement to present is not needed. Some examples include trade skill certification for technical staff or specific software training for any staff. For AOCs, there is the annual Academic Resources Conference.

To be considered, please submit a Staff Professional Development Training/Seminar request form, obtain your supervisor's signature, and forward to Alyscia Richards (alyscia@sfsu.edu) in the Dean's Office.

Also, Human Resources lists several professional development opportunities on their website.

LCA Professional Development Committee

  • Gitanjali Shahani, Associate Dean
  • Mohammad Azadpur, Philosophy
  • Cyrus Ginwala, Music
  • Amy Kilgard, Communication Studies
  • Laura Lisy-Wagner, History
  • Kim Schwartz, Theatre and Dance

 

Faculty Spotlight

LCA is committed to providing the opportunities and space for all faculty and staff to thrive as scholars/artists, teachers, professionals and colleagues at all stages of their careers and in alignment with the core values of the college and institution. It is committed to fostering an environment of intellectual exploration through programming that encourages and supports extraordinary ideas, interdisciplinary collaboration and professional growth so that we can thrive, inspire our teaching and learn from each other.