Nelson Schwab Chairs "Say Yes" Fund

The Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH) in the College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the Nelson Schwab Chairs “Say Yes” Fund. Thanks to a generous gift from Nelson Schwab III, former chair of UNC’s Board of Trustees, the IAH will have a minimum of $50,000 every year to make available to chairs of departments in the arts, humanities and qualitative social sciences. Click here to read the news release.

Departmental chairs may apply for these funds to use in any way that will enhance departmental excellence, with special attention to improving quality, morale, collegiality and mentoring. Targeted support for individual faculty’s work as teachers and scholars is also a possible use for these resources. 

How to Apply for Funds

Chairs who wish to access these funds should write a one-page proposal (maximum of 500 words) that explains how their department would use up to $25,000 in the calendar year of 2013. Please also provide a brief budget.

Proposals for the 2013 calendar year should be submitted by Nov. 28, 2012, to the IAH, where they will be read by a faculty committee that will then make a recommendation to the director of the IAH and the senior associate dean for the fine arts and humanities.

To apply, send your proposal as an attachment to iahapply@unc.edu.

The final decision on awards will be made by the senior associate dean in consultation with the director of the IAH.

Criteria

The faculty selection committee will consider the following information when reviewing your proposal:

1. Please click here for a list of eligible departments in the College.
2. Proposals that attend to the collective good of the department will be favored over proposals that focus on individual faculty members. But the most important criterion will be the contribution to the improvement of the department along any of several dimensions: academic quality, enhanced pedagogy, improved morale, developing a strategic plan, etc. Thus, support for key faculty falls within the purview of this fund.
3. Chairs may develop their proposals in any way they choose, but using this opportunity as the occasion for canvassing the department’s faculty about its needs and wishes is encouraged. This process can serve as a way for departments to articulate those needs, and for the College to hear them.
4. “Say Yes” funds may be used to address retention issues.  Chairs who request funds for this purpose should support their reasons for requesting funds with documented evidence of outside offers or approaches to key UNC faculty from other universities. The appropriate Senior Associate Dean will assess each case individually and in the context of the value of the retention to the collective good of the department.

Questions?

Contact IAH Director John McGowan at 962-6831 or jpm@email.unc.edu.