Marisa Moazen, assistant vice chancellor of research engagement in the Office of Research and Engagement, received a One UT Collaboration and Innovation grant in May. The program— which is headed by the University of Tennessee System—is open to faculty and staff at all campuses, institutes and extension/field offices. The goal of One UT is to foster collaboration and innovation in three key areas—student success, research, and outreach and engagement—across units, campuses, and institutes. The System will invest up to $500,000 in each of the three categories, up to $1.5 million total.
Moazen’s project proposal, “Virtual Professional Growth Opportunities for Teachers,” will fund a program in partnership with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN), a Battelle-created state network. The program will offer virtual teacher training workshops focused on sharing advances in research of our UT faculty and students. Participating teachers will receive professional development credit towards either license renewal (on-contract hours) or annual in-service credit (off-contract hours).
Offering the sessions virtually maximizes the number and diversity of schools and teachers able to participate by eliminating cost to schools, providing nondisruptive learning, and allowing for recording of the sessions for future viewing. UT faculty will have the opportunity to share their research and expertise with a broader audience, showcasing UT’s robust research program.
“This new initiative will allow faculty to introduce to our community educators new resources and research available to them, while growing our connection with Tennessee school systems for future research collaboration opportunities,” said Moazen. “Faculty will be sharing topics about their own research as well as dialogue on current topics and advances in the field. The ability to provide greater research impact is important to us.
Initially, sessions will be limited to the first 100 teachers who sign up and will be open to any teacher with an interest in that field. The program launches this fall with registration opening August 1 on engagement.utk.edu.
For more information about the One UT Collaboration and Innovation Grants, visit the University of Tennessee president’s website.