Global Funds

Global Funds Application

To complete the Global Funds Application Click Here

Global Fund:  Call for Faculty and Advisor Proposals – Fall 2008

The College of the Liberal Arts invites any CLA faculty member or staff adviser to submit a proposal for a 2008-09 Global Fund Award. The Global Fund awards, provided by the Office of International Programs but administered to CLA faculty through the office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, are designed to support faculty or staff travel that further develops or enhances existing or proposed study abroad programs based in this college.

With over 170 programs around the world, the Education Abroad Office offers many opportunities for our undergraduates to study abroad.  Given the College of the Liberal Arts’ stated goal of increasing undergraduate participation in education abroad programs, and given our active role in creating our own academic programs abroad, we encourage all faculty and advisers to think about ways of better integrating education abroad into the curriculum. The Global Fund will allow faculty and advisers to learn more about these options first-hand, and to develop new options for the best possible international experiences for our students’ academic interests.

Global Fund awards in CLA are typically anywhere from $500 to $2000; less typically, an award as high as $4,000 is possible, though no award may exceed that amount. 

The Application

Proposals from departments, individual faculty, groups of faculty, and area advisers are welcome at any time during the year. Priority will be given to faculty or advisers who have demonstrated successful commitment to promoting study abroad and who have a plan to increase the quantity or quality of future undergraduate study abroad. Those who receive funds are expected to prepare a report on their travel or activities within two months of the completion of travel.
Proposals of no more than 600 words plus a short budget detailing travel costs should be addressed to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies.  Support from the applicant’s department head is required. Priority will be given to proposals from departments which provide matching funds. (It is appreciated, but not required, that departments contribute up to one-half of the requested amount.)

The successful proposal will outline how proposed travel will directly or indirectly benefit students by promoting international educational experiences either on campus or abroad. The following types of endeavors are eligible for potential Global Fund support:

  • Visits to existing programs in order to assess whether they are appropriate for PSU students and are maintaining a quality commensurate with a Penn State education.
  • Travel to explore the development of a faculty-led program to be taught in the summer.
  • Travel to plan for a short-term international experience as part of a residential course taught on the Penn State campus. There are known as embedded programs because the international study is embedded in a residential course.
  • Participation in faculty development seminars offered by CIEE (one of the principal organizations providing education abroad opportunities for Penn State students). Short-term seminars for faculty on various topics are offered at locations around the world (see their website at http://ciee.org/IFDS.aspx)
  • Travel to explore establishing a new education abroad program. Your proposal should explain clearly why the current offerings will not serve your students’ needs or why your proposed program offers important advantages that the current programs do not.
  • Development of retreats or workshops for faculty or advisers to educate them more about education abroad and to develop strategies for promoting education abroad in your area.
  • Visit a nearby education abroad site while already in the area for a conference or other event.
  • Travel to develop international internships or research opportunities for undergraduates

(Please note: Global Funds are no longer offered to fund faculty travel to research conferences or for research purposes that are not related specifically and demonstrably to the internationalization of education at Penn State.)

If your innovative proposal does not exactly fit these categories, please feel free to submit it anyway.

Deadlines and Evaluation

While proposals for travel are accepted year-round, we do give preference to applications that come in by December 1, 2008 for travel to be completed by June 30.   Some funds will be reserved for requests submitted after December 1, and preference for those funds will be give to applications received by March 2, 2009.

Other Funding Opportunities for Faculty: You are urged to explore as well the funding opportunities provided by the Office of International Programs through their Faculty Travel Fund. This fund supports faculty travel that will promote internationalization of the curriculum. For more details, see their web site. Questions about the Faculty Travel Fund of the Office of International Programs may be directed to Professor Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor, Director of Liberal Arts Education Abroad Programs (jaw55@psu.edu, or phone 867-2422).