Deadlines: TBD- Many opportunities have been postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

For: Faculty-Staff teams

Application Form

Sometimes getting an ambitious project off the ground, or taking it to the next phase, requires specific technical knowledge that members of our current DLA Team do not have and/or that is best learned in a systematic way. In recognition of this fact, Advanced Training Grants are available to help faculty-staff project teams gain that expertise. 

Scope: Those working on research, curricular, or public-facing projects are eligible to apply. Grants are intended to fund training tied to a specific project rather than general professional development. Advanced Training Grants can cover everything from a locally-offered, one-day workshop on a particular tool to a week-long institute that requires travel. The DLA Team is happy to help you identify whether/which training workshops or institutes might be right for your project.

Project Requirements:

1. Trainings must be attended by a faculty-staff team who are working together to develop and support a specific DLA initiative. (Generally, only two people will be funded for out-of-state travel; for local workshops, it is possible to make a case that it would materially benefit the project for additional members of the team to be included in the training.)
2. Projects should be in active development, although may be at any phase of progress: the goal is to ensure that teams undertaking training have a clear sense of how the training will enable a specific project to progress.

Funding Available: The grant will fund the following: registration fees (up to $1,750 per person); transportation costs; and lodging expenses for out-of-state or multi-day training taking place beyond the greater Twin Cities area. Transportation and lodging expenses should not exceed $1,500.

Not Funded:

1. General introductions to DH/DLA tools, methods, or concepts for purposes of professional development (i.e. without specific project implementations in mind).
2. Student members of the project team.

Selection Criteria: Priority will be given to teams proposing to attend training that fills gaps in the knowledge base of the DLA @ Mac Team, and/or to those with the most clearly articulated rationale for the applications of the training to the project at hand. As there will be twice-yearly application cycles, in future cycles, priority will also be given to those who have not yet received Advanced Training Grants.

Grantee Obligations: Within a year following the training, the faculty member of the project team will design and lead a workshop for the Mac campus community, to demonstrate and teach at least some portion of the DLA tool(s) acquired in the advanced training. Faculty workshop leaders will receive a $1000 stipend upon completion of the workshop. The goal is to help expand the value of the grant by making these skills/tools available to the wider community. The project team will also be encouraged to participate in the annual DLA Showcase.

For More Information: If you are in the early development stages of a project, meeting with Aisling Quigley, the DLA postdoc, or with Brooke Schmolke, Manager of the Digital Resource Center, can help you focus your goals, design your project’s interface, and identify the tools and training that might be appropriate for your project. If you have questions about whether your project is a good fit for this funding opportunity, reach out to Andrea Kaston Tange (akastont@macalester.edu), Director of DLA.

The faculty member on this project should submit one application for the team.

Please note: some institutes offer funding and/or provide opportunities to apply for scholarships or reduced registration rates.

Potential Sites for Advanced Training