NCFDD Faculty Success Grants for Pre-Tenured Faculty

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The Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) invites applications for the Faculty Success Grants from pre-tenured faculty interested in participating in Faculty Success Program offered by NCFDD. These grants fund enrollment in NCFDD's Faculty Success Program.

Applications for AY 2025-26 are now open; view application requirements to get started!

What is theNCFDD Faculty Success Program?

The is a structured, 10-week virtual experience designed to help faculty members increase productivity, establish sustainable writing habits, and create work-life balance—all with the support of expert coaching and a dedicated community of peers.

鶹ѰBoulder's institutional membership with NCFDD includes for all faculty, academic professionals, and graduate students, which provides access to NCFDD’s extensive online resources including workshops, webinars, and seminars.Once you have activated your membership, you will be able to use the NCFDD’s website to learn about the goals, processes, and time commitments involved in participation in the Faculty Success Program.

What are the application requirements for the Faculty Success Grant?

Proposal Format

All applications must include the following:

  • A two-page curriculum vitae (CV), highlighting publications, courses taught, and service commitments since appointment at CU;
  • A one-page, single-spaced statement of how participation in the Faculty Success Program will advance the applicant’s career goals. The statement should provide the full name and campus email address of the applicant, and must address the 2 following points:
    • How participation in the Faculty Success Program will help the applicant move successfully towards tenure and promotion;
    • Why participation in the mentoring networks that are an integral component of the Faculty Success Program will be especially valuable to the applicant’s professional scholarly development.

Proposal Submission Deadline

5 p.m. MST on Monday, September 8, 2025.

Proposals and all supporting documentation should be submitted as a single PDF file by email to Maribeth.VanHaute@Colorado.EDU.

Notice of Award

Award recipients will be notified by early October 2025.

Summary Report

A short, written report will be due within one month of completing the Faculty Success Program. This report should describe your specific participation in the program and identify how participation in the program had a positive impact on your scholarly productivity and your career development.

Questions?

Contact Maribeth Van Haute, Faculty Affairs Operations and Budget Manager at Maribeth.VanHaute@Colorado.EDU.

Other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FSP is a great fit for you, regardless of your career stage. While the NCFDD welcomes FSP participants who are non-tenure track, tenure-track, and tenured faculty,please note that the Faculty Success Grantsoffered by the Office for Faculty Affairs only fund the enrollment of eligiblepre-tenured faculty. Whether you're facing the pressure of achieving tenure, renewing a contract, or looking to refresh your productivity strategies and reignite your passion for your scholarly work, FSP can offer the skills and supportive structure to thrive within the Academy.

The program's flexibility allows it to adapt to your specific needs and circumstances. If you're experiencing a particularly demanding period, the community and small group meetings can provide a much-needed boost. Our coaches are committed to helping you tailor the FSP principles to your unique situation, ensuring you get the most out of the program.

FSP participants generally spend 1.5 to 2 hours per week doing the individual work of watching training videos and completing homework assignments. Additionally, you'll participate in weekly 75-minute small group meetings with your coach. These sessions provide a valuable opportunity for peer support, discussion, and personalized guidance.

Yes, FSP can be beneficial for professionals in all disciplines. Its focus on fundamental challenges, such as time management and work-life balance, is applicable to a wide range of academic fields.

Each successful grant applicant will receive funds sufficient to cover enrollment in the Faculty Success Program (FSP), using the priority membership early bird discount offered by the NCFDD. To participate in this program, successful applicants will first have to activate their individual membership.

All pre-tenured assistant/associate professors who have not previously participated in the NCFDD Faculty Success Program or received this grant from LEAP/Faculty Affairs are welcome to apply.

Meet the FSP Alumni

NCFDD Faculty Success Program Testimonials

Like many other participants, I found the program transformative in all the right ways. The first six weeks were especially invaluable for developing concrete strategies for staying on track with research and writing in an extremely busy semester. FSP made me rethink how I approach weekly planning and fitting everything in. With the regular writing practice encouraged by the program, I was able to make significant progress on various projects without any additional stress or an increase in working hours.

Isabel Köster, Assistant Professor, Classics, 2022 cohort

Participating in NCFDD's Faculty Success Program was transformative for me as a new assistant professor. It provided me with the tools I needed to balance the myriad of responsibilities associated with mentoring students, starting up and running a research program, teaching, and performing my service assignments. Its focus on strategic planning and time management has allowed me to effectively balance work with my personal life and be successful without needing to work excessive numbers of hours. It was also invaluable in connecting me with peer mentors. I actively recommend this program to anyone starting as a new professor.

Laurel Hind, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, 2021 cohort

The Faculty Success Program (FSP) gave me space, resources and people to help me prioritize my research,even as a new assistant professor overwhelmed with teaching. Going into the program, I thought I knew a lot about time management and priorities, but I came out with specific new strategies for goal setting and renewing my commitment daily. My accountability group and mentor gave me terrific support and encouragement, and helped me become far more productive than I would have otherwise.

Christine Larson, Assistant Professor, Journalism, 2019 cohort

The FSP has helped me to reflect more broadly on and better align my long-term goals with my daily activities. It has provided me with a set of best practices and strategies that I have experimented with during the summer. Before participating in the FSP, I felt my schedule was constantly driven by urgent and not important needs. The FSP has helped me to create a daily writing habit. I have seen a huge improvement in my productivity this summer and I have learned I don’t actually need big time slots to have some writing done. This will be very beneficial when things start to get busy with the academic year and it’s hard to find time to write.

Cristina Torres-Machi, Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, 2019 cohort

The FSP taught me skills and gave me support that increased my productivity and reduced my stress levels. I continue to use the “Write Now” software that’s part of the FSP Alumni program and I still meet weekly with the accountability group I met four years ago when I went through FSP. We’ve celebrated our successes together and buoyed each other in difficult times. I highly recommend all of NCFDD’s webinars, its 14-day writing challenges, and of course the FSP.

Lucy Chester, Associate Professor, History, 2019 cohort

Participating in the NCFDD FSP was a life saver for me. I was a mid-career associate who was struggling to keep my research agenda moving forward while also balancing a new administrative position, ongoing teaching responsibility, and two young children. The program introduced me to an array of tools that have helped me feel more organized and in control. Strategic planning exercises and accountability groups help keep me on task and productive. But what I really loved was its holistic approach to things. I'm a lot more thoughtful and intentional about what I prioritize. I'm definitely not working harder, I'm working smarter, and my well-being is an important part of that calculus.

Associate Professor, 2017 cohort