Teaching and Learning Centers are on-campus resource and training centers for professors and teaching assistants from all disciplines, and are dedicated to fostering excellent and innovative teaching. TLCs also excel at collecting and assessing the outcomes of teaching methods.

Over the past two years the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society has started working with Teaching and Learning Centers (TLCs) at colleges and universities across the US. We are very pleased to announce that, with support from the 1440 Foundation, we have now established a program of grants to TLCs to foster and support the use of contemplative practices throughout the curriculum. Within this initiative, we are offering two different grants: Contemplative Pedagogy and Teaching and Learning grants and Invited Speaker grants.

The Contemplative Pedagogy and Teaching and Learning grants are $5,000 each and are intended to support a range of initiatives at TLCs. We envision that these grants will provide resources to TLCs so that they can help support and develop groups/courses to extend the use of contemplative practices throughout their institutions and assess their impacts. To qualify, the applying Teaching and Learning Centers must have a Director and/or staff who are members of the ACMHE and who have attended an event organized by The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (such as a Summer Session on Contemplative Pedagogy, ACMHE Conference or Retreat for Educators) or have already invited speakers to address them and faculty on contemplative pedagogy. Applications that satisfy these requirements  will be reviewed and selected based on three criteria: approach/design, innovation/novelty, and strength of possible assessment. 

• Proposal, including plan, rationale and expected outcomes for TLC's development of contemplative pedagogy. Proposals must include strategies for evaluating the effects of contemplative practice on educational outcomes, e.g., attention, understanding, connection and well-being, as well as how this will sustain the use of contemplative pedagogy after the grant period (1200 words maximum).
• A list of the TLC's recent and scheduled programs (for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years).
• Detailed budget (awards may not be used for salary or personnel)

The Invited Speaker grants offer funds to subsidize the costs of invited speakers from the Center on contemplative pedagogy. The intent of these grants is to provide funds for institutions that have very limited budgets and could not otherwise afford to bring in speakers. We hope this program may be of particular benefit to TLCs which do not qualify for our Contemplative Pedagogy and Teaching and Learning Grants.

The deadline for applying for a Contemplative Pedagogy and Teaching and Learning grant is November 15, 2012. The Invited Speaker grants have a rolling deadline.

To learn more about the grants and to apply, visit contemplativemind.org/programs/tlc or view the RFP.

Members of the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE) are invited to submit news, announcements, recent publications and event listings to the fall 2012 ACMHE Member Newsletter. We plan to send the next issue to our subscribers in December and request that submissions be received through the online form by Thursday, November 15th.

Watch the keynote address by Rhonda V. Magee (Chair of the Board of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of San Francisco) at the 2012 Conference of the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education, September 21-23, 2012 at Amherst College, Amherst, MA. 

"Contemplating Race, Law, and Justice: Some Notes on Pedagogy for Changing the World"

Want to learn more about our most recent conference, Contemplative Approaches in the Diverse Academic Community: Inquiry, Connection, Creativity, and Insight?