Larry Adams, associate provost for academic affairs, said Dorraj's trip was funded by an instructional development grant, one of many faculty development grants TCU offers its faculty. We have programs in place that support faculty to enhance their teaching and learning. Chancellor Michael Ferrari said research grants are just a part of that support. Increasing compensation and the number of faculty and staff are other ways to provide more support, he said. Adams said grants are available for instructional development, research and creative activities.
Grants are also available for traveling abroad for faculty seminars or hosting guest lecturers.
Each year the same amount of funds are allocated to faculty grant programs. Unless there are extra funds, the amount will not be increased, Adams said. The grant money is enough to meet the needs of Baylor, but an increase is always welcomed, Carter said. Jeffrey Coffer, associate professor of chemistry, said a faculty peer group is charged with the task of deciding which applicants will get a grant. The grants are usually small and are offered to either new or tenured faculty to help them conduct more research so they may get a larger grant from other institutions in the future, Coffer said.