Purpose
The Universal Design for Learning Course (Re)Design Grant grant supports faculty who have completed the UDL in Practice Short Course by providing an opportunity to apply the UDL framework to a course they are currently teaching or planning to teach. This grant focuses on designing courses to prioritize inclusivity and accessibility.
The major outcomes for this grant are for faculty to:
- Apply a curriculum design framework that prioritizes student inclusivity and access.
- Design course curriculum to align with the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) considerations for UDL.
- Establish personalized indicators and measurements for ongoing course improvement.
Eligibility
Full-time faculty (tenured, tenure track, and professional track) at the Columbia or School of Medicine campuses teaching as instructors of record in the 2025-2026 academic year are eligible to apply after successful completion of the UDL in Practice Short Course.
- The application deadline for the short course is Thursday, February 13.
- The course runs from Monday, March 17 to Monday, April 28.
Applicants are required to submit a department support form. The support form must include confirmation from your department chair, program director, or dean supporting efforts to offer your funded course in Spring 2026.
Prior CTE grant recipients must have completed the prior project(s) and submitted final report(s) to be eligible to apply for this grant.
Award
- Up to five grants will be awarded based on the quality of applications.
- Grant Amount: $2,500 per awardee. Funds will be disbursed following the project kickoff session.
- Approved Uses: Grant funds may be used for salary, purchasing equipment, hiring undergraduate or graduate students for support, covering travel expenses, or acquiring any other resources necessary for implementing UDL practices in the course.
When applying, please include your unit budget manager’s information and PeopleSoft A-fund budget number. Please contact your unit budget manager for this information and notify them of the grant if your proposal is accepted to ensure the timely transfer of funds.
Requirements
Participants will select a course they currently teach or have taught in the past that would benefit from re-evaluation using the UDL critical framework. As part of their grant activities, participants will establish personalized success indicators to measure the impact of their UDL-based changes. The initial kickoff meeting will include an onboarding discussion to guide the development of these indicators, such as:
- Student success data
- Student activity and engagement data
- Assessment data, especially for major assessments tied to program outcomes
- Course evaluation data
- Ally accessibility report
- Program completion data (e.g., “bottle neck” courses)
With these indicators, grant awardees will collaborate with the UDL facilitator to review their course data and redesign the course accordingly. After implementing the redesign faculty will teach the course and produce a report detailing their findings. The report should reference the previously identified data points as key performance indicators for their curriculum redevelopment.
Grant Timeline Dates
- Applications accepted: April 28 - May 16, 2025
- Awardees notified: June 30, 2025
- Acceptance notification: July 1, 2025
- Kickoff meeting: August 2025
- Revised Course Materials Due: November 21, 2025
- Course Delivered: Spring 2026
- Final Report Due: End of Term Spring 2026
Application Process
To apply, faculty must submit the following:
- Letter of Interest
- Provide a brief narrative about the potential impact of UDL in your courses.
- Connect your UDL critical framework to your goals for promoting student success.
- Describe how you currently integrate UDL into your courses, including any changes already implemented.
- Department Support
- A department support form from your Department Chair, Associate Dean, or Dean confirming their support for your course design and delivery in Spring 2026.
Application materials will be distributed in the UDL in Practice Short Course.
For more information, contact Mitchell Dallas Herring at mdh11@mailbox.sc.edu.