The Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) is accepting applications from tenure and non-tenure track faculty to learn about innovations taking place in distance education at the

Online Learning Consortium’s 2020 Innovate conference from March 31st to April 3rd in Chicago, IL. 

Featuring over 100 workshops and presentations on online teaching and learning pedagogies and technologies, the OLC Innovate conference presents an extraordinary opportunity to learn from nationally recognized leading thinkers about cutting edge developments in distance education.

The grant will cover conference registration fees, lodging, food, and travel.  To be considered for the mini-grant, please submit your application by

Tuesday, February 18th at 5:00 p.m.

A committee will review applications and notify applicants no later than March 1st at 5:00 p.m. to begin making travel arrangements.  The Center would like to sponsor faculty that possess some experience designing and delivering online or blended instruction. Applications will be evaluated accordingly and by the anticipated impact attending the conference will have on increasing and supporting online teaching and learning at MSU. Preference will be given to faculty who have not received a mini-grant in the past.

How to Apply:

Submit a short application by responding to the four questions found in this Qualtrics Survey by Tuesday, February 18th at 5:00pm. 

    1. Name, Department, Date of Hire, E-mail Address, and Phone Number
    2. Have you ever taught in a 100% online course format before?
    3. Have you ever taught in a blended or hybrid course format before?
    4. In approximately 250 words or less, describe your goals for attending the conference. Include how you would like for your online teaching practices and the learning outcomes of your students to benefit from attending this conference. Please feel free to explore the workshop offerings from the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Innovate conference and connect them to your goals.

Direct questions about these mini-grants to Ken Silvestri, Instructional Designer in the Center for Faculty Excellence, at kenneth.silvestri@montana.edu or (406) 994-7835.