Augustana awarded $25,000 Teagle Foundation grant to support first-year course, faculty development

Augustana College Provost Dr. Dianna Shandy announces the college has been awarded a $25,000 Cornerstone: Learning for Living planning grant from the Teagle Foundation. The competitive grant funds will be used for faculty professional development and to revise the college’s first-year general education curriculum. 

“This Cornerstone grant is pivotal to Augustana’s future curricular renewal efforts,” said Dr. Shandy. “It’s wonderful for our community to receive this external validation of the excellent work that is happening and will continue to unfold at Augustana.”

Teagle is a New York-based nonprofit which aims to strengthen liberal arts education by serving as a catalyst for the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences while addressing the issues of financial sustainability and accountability in higher education.

Dr. Shandy said that Augustana faculty have used Teagle funding to develop a list of shared transformative texts that will be incorporated into first-year courses for all incoming students this fall. In addition to acquiring texts to support faculty professional development, the redesigned first-year curriculum features interdisciplinary faculty teams and vocational exploration. These courses will be conducted in a seminar-style setting with 20 or fewer students.

“The new first-year curriculum uses the humanities as a lens to help students apply critical thinking across all majors and fields of study,” she said. “It also emphasizes how big questions can be approached from different disciplinary perspectives to yield fresh insights.”

Dr. Shandy praised Augustana faculty members Dr. Umme al-Wazedi, professor of English and division dean for the humanities; Dr. Rob Elfine, professor of music and Faculty Council member; and Dr. Brian Leech, associate professor of history and Faculty Council chair for their contributions to the spring grant proposal to the Teagle Foundation. Dr. Shandy said they were invited to work on this proposal because of their focus on the arts and humanities and for their leadership roles at the college.

Dr. Leech said faculty are grateful to the Teagle Foundation for this opportunity to revisit and renew Augustana’s curriculum.

“It is giving us a chance to bring instructors together as we work hard to create a meaningful first-year experience," said Dr. Leech. "With this support, we will also be able to form a team to explore new possibilities for the common courses that we ask all students to take beyond the first year."

Dr. Shandy said receiving this Cornerstone grant means the college is eligible to apply for a higher-level Teagle implementation grant this spring, which could bring $150,000 or more to the college. If awarded, these funds could be used to build upon the Cornerstone grant work, including curricular renewal.