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Education / Faculty Development / Deans Teaching Fellowship / Application Information

Application Information


Dean's Teaching Fellowship Application Components:

  1. A Dean’s Teaching Fellowship Project Proposal (4 pages) describing a scholarly project to be completed as part of the program (see specific guidelines below).
  2. An abstract of the proposed project (300 words or less)
  3. A personal statement (one page) explaining the applicant's career path and anticipated benefits of participation in the Dean’s Teaching Fellow Program. This statement should describe how the Dean’s Teaching Fellowship will enhance your participation as a master teacher at URMC/URSMD.
  4. Proposed budget for the $3,000 research support for each of the two years of the grant. This should be an itemized budget for each year and may include travel to present at a national meeting.
  5. Curriculum vitae highlighting the applicant’s educational contributions and leadership
  6. Three letters of support (Scan and email PDFs, no hard copy please)
    1. Department Chair (recommendation, attestation of support for the project, and agreement to provide 15% release time for the faculty member’s participation)
    2. Peer letter assessing teaching skills and/or educational leadership
    3. Proposed mentor letter (If the Dept. Chair will serve as mentor, then a letter of recommendation from a senior faculty member.) The mentor should comment on their own qualifications, and (as appropriate) anticipated challenges for the mentee and how they will be overcome, any need for the mentee to seek additional expertise, and proposed frequency and content of mentoring meetings.

To assist in the preparation of application materials, candidates may request examples of successful applications from Kayla LaClair (585-275- 3030).


Guidelines for Dean’s Teaching Fellow Project Proposal

Use this outline as a guide for your project description. Please limit the narrative to four pages, single-spaced, with 12- point font and no appendices. The project should be feasible to complete and present within the 2-year time frame of the program. It should involve an educational research component and generate new knowledge. For projects that involve the development of educational programs for medical students, residents, fellows or practicing physicians, there should be a robust plan for evaluation of the impact of the program (qualitative and/or quantitative). Methodological rigor and mentoring will also be evaluated. Applications will be reviewed and the fellows selected by the Dean’s Teaching Fellowship Advisory Board, which generally meets in February.

Drs. Dadiz and Nofziger are available to discuss – and help applicants refine – proposals prior to applying, and to help potential fellows identify a mentor.

  1. Introduction
    1. Specific Aims of the Project (2-4 sentences): The project should be described as hypotheses-generating or hypothesis-driven. For educational innovations, concrete outcomes should be specified, including learning objectives.
    2. Background (1/2 page): Describe why the project should be undertaken. Provide a brief literature review, and/or description of other efforts to address the problem. Is there a documented need or deficiency that should be corrected? In what ways is it novel or innovative? Is there an underlying educational theory? What published and “grey” literature supports the proposal? What impact will the project have locally? Nationally?
    3. Population (1 paragraph): What learner group(s) will be served and/or studied? How might it affect or be relevant to other learners or populations?
  2. Plans
    1. Methods (1 page): Please provide a detailed description of the program, intervention or research protocol. Indicate how you will (if relevant) recruit participants, obtain consent, implement the project, anticipate any difficulties, collect data and analyze the data.
    2. Timeline (1/2 page): Please outline a schedule of dates for completion of various stages of the project.
    3. Outcomes (1/2 page): Describe methods of assessing the effect of the program (if relevant). What types of new knowledge, educational programs or materials will result from this project? What will next steps be after completion of the project?
  3. Feasibility (1/3 page): How will the project be implemented? Whose support, approval and cooperation will you need? What material resources will you need? How will the project fit into the current curriculum? How will you promote participants’ interest, attendance and follow-through? What challenges do you anticipate and how will those be addressed?
  4. Mentoring (1/3 page): Who will be your mentor? What qualifications does he or she have? What expertise or skills that you need cannot be provided by your mentor? How frequently will you meet?
  5. Evaluation (1/2 page): How will the outcomes of the project be assessed? This section is critical; evaluation methods should be described in detail.


Submit applications to Kayla LaClair by no later than January 8, 2026.