Purpose

Contingent faculty make up a significant number of those teaching on college campuses today and that number continues to steadily grow. Reliance on contingent labor has at this point become normalized, yet this group of faculty continues to be treated as second class citizens in many ways, primarily in the areas of financial compensation and in support of efforts to undertake and produce research. For these reasons, the SCS has created a grant program for contingent faculty working in our field.

These grants are intended to serve two purposes: The first is to enable contingent faculty to do work that is important but may not be rewarded or recognized by their home institution — what we might broadly term “professional development” — for example, research funding, course reductions that allow time for developing new courses, or organizing student-involved outreach. The second is to help contingent faculty, particularly those who work part-time, on a course-by-course or semester-by-semester basis, survive and thrive in an environment where they are under-supported and under-resourced. It would be up to the faculty member to decide how best to use this money, but this “financial assistance” grant could be used to pay for health insurance or medical bills if a faculty person is uninsured, as a bridge grant for those who work on short-term contracts and receive no income during this summer, and for relocation or caregiving expenses.

Amount

In the third year of this program (2023-2024) SCS anticipates awarding at least $20,000 in the form of grants up to $3,000. Each applicant who is awarded a grant will also receive one year of free SCS membership.

Eligibility

All contingent faculty who study or teach about the ancient Mediterranean and its reception are eligible. For the purposes of this grant “contingent faculty” is defined as including any post-secondary faculty status other than tenured, tenure-track, and retired/emeritx at the time of application. This includes a variety of professional titles, contract-lengths, FTE-statuses, and benefits-eligibility statuses. Those who do not currently have a job within academia but who are actively seeking employment in line with the above are also eligible. Current graduate students are not eligible. Membership in the SCS is not required for eligibility.

The Committee gives preference to members of the SCS, individuals who teach at institutions in North America, and individuals who earned their highest degree at a North American institution.

Those who are unsure about whether they meet eligibility requirements should contact Liz Mercier (eemercie@purdue.edu)

Selection Criteria

The grant program includes two tracks: (a) Professional Development; and (b) Financial Assistance. Applicants will indicate whether they are applying for a Professional Development grant or a Financial Assistance grant. Applications for the financial assistance option will be assessed based on financial need, while applications for the professional development option will include some supplemental questions about the project for which the funds will be used. These responses, along with financial need, will be considered when awarding grants for professional development.

Timeline

The application will be open from October 1st to December 31st, 2024. The selection committee will review applications in February and early March, and decisions will be announced in March of 2025.

The process for submitting applications will be different in 2024-2025 than in past years. To apply, please submit an application through our award, fellowship, and grant application system: apply.classicalstudies.org.

Selection Committee

The selection committee will be made up of 3-5 members of the SCS Committee on Contingent Faculty and a number of Directors-at-large from the SCS Board.