Recognition

The Athanasius Kircher, S. J. Award for Excellence in Research is awarded annually to recognize up to three full-time faculty who elevate LUC’s reputation and external impact through their outstanding research, scholarship, and creative works. The award is name for Athanasius Kircher, S.J., an influential early modern Jesuit whose expansive curiosity and extensive publication record in disciplines ranging from biology and physics to cultural anthropology and theology earned him the moniker “Master of 100 Arts.”  

Eligibility 

• Applicants must be full-time Loyola faculty during the three-year review period (i.e., 2023-2026), including the academic year during which the award is received.  

• During the three-year review period (2023-2026), the applicant(s) must have at least one major research, scholarly, or creative achievement, such as an externally funded research grant, a published book, or an exhibit.   

• Applicants must be able to demonstrate evidence of external impact during the three-year review period (2023-2026), though that impact can be related to overall research agenda (e.g., research, scholarly, and creative contributions that date from before the three-year review period).   

Application Process 

• Applicants assemble the following application materials:  

• • Cover letter describing major research, scholarly, or creative achievement(s) during the three-year review period (2023-2026) and the observable external impact of their research, scholarship, and/or creative works during that same period.   

• • CV  

• • Digital copy of major research, scholarly, and/or creative achievement(s). Links to books or websites can suffice.   

• • Artifacts demonstrating external impacts (e.g., award announcement; press release; book review; event program; copy of published Op-ed; citation analytics). Combine artifacts into one pdf that is no more than 10 pages.  

• • Letter from peer outside of Loyola attesting to the quality of the submitted research, scholarly, or creative achievements and the applicant’s broader impact on the field or other targeted community.   

• Applicants submit materials through the application form by May 1.   

• Applications will be reviewed by the Center for Faculty Development’s Faculty Advisory Board and the Vice Provost for Research.  

• Applicants will be notified of decisions by June 15. 

Award 

• Up to three awards will be given each year to recognize the rich array of scholarly and disciplinary contexts across the University.  

• Awards may be given to individuals or small groups of collaborators (no more than three). 

• Each recipient will receive a $2,000 honorarium and medallion.   

• Recipients will be honored at University Convocation.  

• Each recipient will collaborate with the Center for Faculty Development to be featured in a University-wide event focused on research. 

 Questions? Reach out to Lauri Dietz (ldietz1@luc.edu). 

The Jerónimo Nadal, S. J. Award for Excellence in Teaching is awarded annually to recognize up to three full-time faculty who deliver on the promise of a Jesuit undergraduate and/or graduate education through high-quality teaching and mentoring in accordance with Ignatian pedagogical principles. This University award is named for Jerónimo Nadal, S. J., a close collaborator with and trusted representative of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was instrumental in developing the theology behind Ignatian spirituality and founded Jesuit College, Messina, the first Jesuit college. 

Eligibility 

• Applicants must be full-time Loyola faculty who have taught for a minimum of five years at Loyola.  

Application Process 

• Applicants assemble the following application materials:  

• • Cover letter describing how they enact Ignatian pedagogical principles in their teaching and learning and their impact on student engagement and learning.     

• • CV   

• • Two annotated teaching artifacts from the past two years (e.g., syllabus, assignment/activity instructions, lecture slides) that highlight how Ignatian pedagogical principles are infused in the course and/or assignment design and delivery.    

• • Evidence of student learning and engagement (e.g., student artifacts, a collaborative online exhibit, instructor feedback and student revisions, aggregated pre- and post- test scores, excerpts from students’ reflective essays). Please omit identifying information with grades. Do not include Smartevals.   

• • A peer teaching observation, no more than 5 years old. Peer observations may be an existing artifact that was already part of their department's or school's process for evaluating teaching. Applicants can also opt for a peer write something now. It could be based on an in-class observation but does not have to be. The goal is for the person writing the teaching observation to have some firsthand experience with the applicant's current teaching—by reviewing syllabuses and assignments or by seeing artifacts of  students' work and faculty feedback or by attending a class session, for example.

• Applicants submit materials through the application form by May 1.   

• Applications will be reviewed by the Center for Faculty Development’s Faculty Advisory Board and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.  

• Applicants will be notified of decisions by June 15. 

Award 

• Up to three awards will be given each year to recognize the rich array of teaching and disciplinary contexts across the University.  

• Awards are given to individuals. 

• Each recipient will receive a $2,000 honorarium and medallion.   

• Recipients will be honored at University Convocation.  

• Each recipient will collaborate with the Center for Faculty Development to be featured in a University-wide event focused on teaching or mentoring. 

 Questions? Reach out to Lauri Dietz (ldietz1@luc.edu). 

The Magis Excellence in Teaching is awarded annually to recognize up to three part-time faculty who deliver on the promise of a Jesuit education through high-quality teaching and mentoring in accordance with Ignatian pedagogical principles. This University award is named for the Jesuit tradition of “magis,” a Latin word that means “more” and represents our mission to strive for excellence.   

Eligibility 

• Applicants must be part-time Loyola faculty who have taught for a minimum of five consecutive years at Loyola.   

Application Process 

• Applicants assemble the following application materials:  

• • Cover letter describing how they enact Ignatian pedagogical principles in their teaching and learning and their impact on student engagement and learning.     

• • CV   

• • Two annotated teaching artifacts from the past two years (e.g., syllabus, assignment/activity instructions, lecture slides) that highlight how Ignatian pedagogical principles are infused in the course and/or assignment design and delivery.    

• • Evidence of student learning and engagement (e.g., student artifacts, a collaborative online exhibit, instructor feedback and student revisions, aggregated pre- and post- test scores, excerpts from students’ reflective essays). Please omit identifying information with grades. Do not include Smartevals.   

• • A peer teaching observation, no more than 5 years old. Peer observations may be an existing artifact that was already part of their department's or school's process for evaluating teaching. Applicants can also opt for a peer write something now. It could be based on an in-class observation but does not have to be. The goal is for the person writing the teaching observation to have some firsthand experience with the applicant's current teaching—by reviewing syllabuses and assignments or by seeing artifacts of  students' work and faculty feedback or by attending a class session, for example.

• Applicants submit materials through the application form by May 1.   

• Applications will be reviewed by the Center for Faculty Development’s Faculty Advisory Board and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.  

• Applicants will be notified of decisions by June 15. 

Award 

• Up to three awards will be given each year to recognize the rich array of teaching and disciplinary contexts across the University.  

• Awards are given to individuals. 

• Each recipient will receive a $2,000 honorarium and medallion.   

• Recipients will be honored at University Convocation.  

• Each recipient will collaborate with the Center for Faculty Development to be featured in a University-wide event focused on teaching or mentoring. 

 Questions? Reach out to Lauri Dietz (ldietz1@luc.edu). 

The Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Faculty Award for Diversity Leadership will be awarded on an annual basis to a faculty member who demonstrates the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion through teaching, research, and service to the LUC community.  This award is named in honor of Pedro Arrupe, S.J., who centered faith and justice and articulated the core Jesuit value of being a person for others.   

This commitment to justice for others may be demonstrated through efforts to recruit, retain, mentor, and support a diverse faculty and/or student body; to perform innovative research that enhances our understanding of diversity and/or highlights inequities and offers insights towards mitigating them; to participate in sustained committee or administrative service that has contributed to and/or advanced the University’s endeavors towards equity and inclusion; to develop department or campus programs that create inclusive environments for students, staff, and/or faculty; and other significant activities. Diversity is defined broadly, including multiple and intersecting identities (e.g., race, disability, economic background, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, nationality, religion). 

Eligibility 

• All full-time faculty members (TT and NTT) from all disciplines and campuses with a minimum of four (4) years of service at Loyola University Chicago are eligible to be nominated for the award. 

• Deans, Associate Deans, Vice Provosts, and Department Chairs are ineligible for this award. Self-nominations will not be considered.  

Nominations 

Candidates should be nominated based on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts that exceed their assigned positions. Nominees should also demonstrate and support the Ignatian ideal of care for others as well as carry out Loyola’s mission and commitment to diversity and inclusion. This award recognizes excellence in all three areas of teaching, research, and service; please indicate these areas in your nomination. 

All faculty in the Loyola University Chicago community are welcome and encouraged to nominate one candidate using this nomination form.  

The deadline for nominations is April 10.  

Award 

• Nominees will be contacted for additional materials (a CV and a one-page statement). Nominees must submit these materials by May 1. 

• The recipient will be selected by the READI Coaches in the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  

• The recipient will receive a $2,000 honorarium and plaque.   

• The recipient will be honored at University Convocation. 

 Questions? Reach out to Juilia Elsky (jelsky@luc.edu), Associate Director of Faculty Affairs. 

The Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM Award for Excellence in Advising and Mentoring  is awarded annually to recognize a full-time faculty member who demonstrates a commitment to advising and mentoring undergraduate and/or graduate students in and outside the classroom. Exemplary faculty are involved in helping students discover their passions and develop a dedication to life-long learning, as well as guiding students' intellectual, personal, social, and spiritual growth.  This University award is named for Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, who embodied Cura Personalis and seeing God in all things through her enduring commitment to bring compassion, joy, and faith to the LUC community. 

Eligibility 

• Applicants must be full-time Loyola faculty who have advised and mentored undergraduate or graduate students for a minimum of five years at Loyola.   

Application Process 

• Applicants assemble the following application materials:  

• • Cover letter describing how they enact Cura Personalis in their mentoring and advising to foster connection with their students and enhance their learning experience.    

• •  CV  

• • Two annotated mentoring or advising artifacts or examples from the past two years that highlight how Cura Personalis principles are infused in their approach to mentoring and advising. Evidence should demonstrate the applicant’s approach to mentoring and advising. Please omit students’ identifying information.  

• • Evidence of student success, growth, and development from mentoring and advising (e.g., student artifacts, thank you notes, pictures, survey results). Please omit students’ identifying information. Do not include Smartevals.   

• •  A letter of endorsement from a colleague or former student.   

• Applicants submit materials through the application form by May 1.   

• Applications will be reviewed by the Center for Faculty Development’s Faculty Advisory Board and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.  

• Applicants will be notified of decisions by June 15. 

Award 

• One award will be given each year. 

• Awards are given to individuals. 

• Each recipient will receive a $2,000 honorarium and medallion.   

• Recipients will be honored at University Convocation.  

• Each recipient will collaborate with the Center for Faculty Development to be featured in a University-wide event focused on teaching or mentoring. 

Questions? Reach out to Lauri Dietz (ldietz1@luc.edu). 

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce one-time grants for faculty to innovate courses and academic programs by integrating or addressing AI in alignment with Loyola’s Jesuit educational mission and values.

As the pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development and integration into societal structures quickens, Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas has been a strong voice arguing that AI must remain a tool in service of humanity rather than a force that diminishes the unique gifts and responsibilities of the human person. Only by placing human dignity, the common good, and human flourishing at the center of our considerations around AI can we avoid surrendering to this new technology those qualities that make us singularly human.

Loyola University is perfectly positioned to respond to this call. With its intellectual and mission-driven commitment to human-centric values, and steeped in the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm, Loyola and its faculty are uniquely equipped to discern and develop the kinds of educational approaches that can integrate AI into our classrooms while inviting respect for and protection of humanity.

In this light, the Center for Faculty Development invites proposals for curricular innovations that aim to integrate AI at programmatic and course levels, both in undergraduate and graduate education, in a way that responds to this moment in history. Grants will be awarded to projects that seek lasting curricular change that promotes a human-centric educational approach to AI, which may also include careful consideration of when to disallow the use of AI in a curriculum. 

The Center for Faculty Development encourages leave applicants to complete the CFD's Human-center AI Digital Badge during Fall 2026. While not compulsory, the programming is designed to help faculty create a compelling application aligned to the call for applications and implement the curricular innovation project.

Eligibility

All full-time faculty, both tenure track and non-tenure track, are eligible to apply.

Grant Categories and Award Amounts

Grants will be awarded in three categories:

Programmatic Curricular Innovations - $20,000 maximum

Programmatic innovations should develop and evaluate human-centered approaches to the use of AI in ways that affect either (a) multiple courses in a program (at least three), (b) a large-enrollment course that is a requirement of one or more programs, or (c) high-impact programmatic elements such as first-year courses, internships, labs, rounds, practicums, etc. Projects in this category should seek to establish educational practices, policies, and frameworks that can be implemented widely within a program or programs.

Course Pilot Innovations - $10,000 maximum

A course pilot innovation includes the development and evaluation of a new course or a significant redesign of an existing course that integrates human-centered approaches to AI. Proposals in this category should think of developing course exemplars for integrating or teaching AI.

Impact Research - $5,000 maximum

Faculty who have already been practicing human-centered approaches to the use of AI in their courses or programs may apply for impact research grants to study the efficacy, replicability, or transferability of their approach.

Expectations

A primary goal for this grant program is to create and disseminate knowledge and strategy about human-centric AI education back to the Loyola community. As such, recipients will be expected to do the following activities

Attend Cohort Meetings

Grant awardees will be considered a cohort and will have several community meetings before the grant begins and during the grant award period to effectively share knowledge and strategies related to their projects.

Develop and Implement a Dissemination Plan

Grant awardees are expected to be a resource for the Loyola teaching community. Awardees will partner with the Center for Faculty Development to create a relevant and appropriate dissemination plan. Possibilities include but are not limited to developing a toolkit so other programs or courses could adopt similar AI strategies or presenting at a university-wide event focused on teaching. Specific plans will be developed in the cohort meetings.

Application Process

Grant applications will open on December 1, 2027 and be accepted until February 1, 2027 through the Center for Faculty Development website. Applications will be reviewed by the Center for Faculty Development’s Faculty Advisory Board and approved by the Provost. Decisions will be announced by March 1, 2027.

Applicants should prepare the following information before submission:

1. Project Description (300 word max): Present (a) the goals of the project, (b) the steps you will take to achieve those goals, (c) a plan for assessing the outcomes, and (d) a rationale for the proposed project. Address the themes described in the call for proposals. Proposals are strongly encouraged to include specific educational practices drawn from the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm.
2. Timeline: Outline the specific plans for achieving the goals. The timeline for project completion is flexible based on the needs of each proposal, though all projects should be piloted or completed sometime during the 2027-2028 academic year.
3. Budget and Justification: Grant funds may be used to support
   1. Course development time
   2. Student assistants
   3. AI tools or software
   4. Assessment support
   5. Workshops or events
4. Letter of Support from Academic Unit Leader: Because curricular changes can affect complex programmatic structures and requirements, grant submitters should include a brief (i.e., no more than 1 page) letter of support for the project from the head of their academic unit.

Grant Application Criteria

Grant applications will be evaluated by Center for Faculty Development Advisory Board based on:   

• Alignment to CFP
• Innovation
• Broader impact
• Feasibility

Address all questions to Chris Dickman, Director of Teaching and Learning, Center for Faculty Development.

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce a pilot program to enable up to three full-time faculty to spend up to one year working for and with an external, non-academic organization or business that integrates AI into their work environment.

In the Ignatian tradition, we are called to go into the world to better understand and meet people where they are. Given the likely upheaval AI will cause in the employment sector over the coming years, it is imperative that our faculty better understand the emerging world of work for which they are preparing our students.

By embedding our faculty in these contexts, we can better support and deepen faculty connections with industry and community partners who are effectively integrating AI into their work.  The purpose of the program is to help LUC faculty better understand how AI is being used in non-academic employment settings, deepen connections for possible research, discover possible opportunities for hands-on experiences for our students, and ultimately to help faculty better prepare LUC students to succeed in such settings.

The Center for Faculty Development, therefore, invites proposals from full-time faculty to participate in the Career Enhancement Leave program during the 2027-2028 academic year. To participate in the program, faculty will identify and connect with an industry or community partner that will authorize them to engage in mutually agreed upon work for one or two semesters during the 2027-28 academic year.

During the leave time, it is expected that faculty will cultivate AI/technical skills and gain industry insights to create new knowledge, perspectives, and resources that can be taken back to enhance their work with students. Faculty participants will then return to teach at LUC better prepared to enrich and advance Loyola’s innovative and ethical application to AI and career outcomes.

The Center for Faculty Development encourages leave applicants to complete the CFD's Human-centered AI Digital Badge during Fall 2026. While not compulsory, the programming is designed to help faculty create a compelling proposal aligned to the CFP and complete the leave program application process.

Details about eligibility, terms of leave, expectations, and application process coming soon. 

Applications will open December 1, 2026 and close February 1, 2027.

New Faculty Innovation Grants are awarded annually to new faculty who integrate lessons from the yearlong New Faculty Orientation into their professional activities. Faculty may apply for funding in one of two categories: teaching and learning or research and scholarship. New Faculty Innovation Grants exemplify Loyola’s Jesuit mission and values by providing faculty with access to transformative lifelong-learning opportunities that empower them to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith. 

Eligibility 

All full-time new faculty, both tenure track and non-tenure track, are eligible to apply. Faculty must participate in a total of eight (8) events, trainings, and/or workshops offered through the yearlong New Faculty Orientation program to apply.  

Grant Categories

Grants of up to $2500 will be awarded in two categories: 

Teaching and Learning 

Proposals in this category should lead to demonstrable and/or measurable outcomes that advance student success, belonging, and enhance the faculty member’s pedagogical practice. Proposals will establish innovative educational practices, policies, and frameworks that can be implemented widely within the faculty member’s department, program, or school. They may also support curricular development as they pertain to the faculty member’s teaching duties and expertise. 

Research and Scholarship 

Proposals in this category represent should lead to outcomes that advance the faculty member’s research agenda and/or scholarly activity. Awards will help to establish the faculty member as a leader in their field, including participation in national or international conferences. The grant may support materials or tools that the faculty requires to conduct and publish their research findings. 

Application Process 

• Applicants assemble the following application materials: 

• • Cover letter describing the  (a.) proposal’s goals, (b.) the steps they will take to achieve those goals, and (c.) the rationale for the proposed project.

• • CV 

• • A timeline that outlines the specific plans for achieving the goals. The timeline for project completion is flexible based on the needs of each proposal, though all projects should be piloted or completed my June 2028. Faculty may use funding to support work during summer 2027. 

• • Budget and justification that specifies how the funds will be spent. Grant funds may be used to support curricular development and innovation, teaching materials, course activities, conference participation, student assistants, or research materials, tools, and/or equipment. Applicants may request up to $2500.

• • Letter of Support from an Academic Unit Leader. No more than a page.

• • Optional: Evidence that the faculty member has obtained the appropriate authorization(s) to complete the work outlined in their cover letter (e.g., acceptance to a conference).

• Grant applications will open on April 1, 2027, and be accepted until April 30, 2027, through the Center for Faculty Development website.  

• Applications will be reviewed by the Center for Faculty Development’s Faculty Advisory Board and approved by the Provost.  

• Decisions will be announced by May 26, 2027. 

Award 

• Awards are given to individuals.  

• Each recipient may request up to $2500. 

• Recipients will be honored at the Focus on Teaching and Learning conference.  

• Each recipient will collaborate with the Center for Faculty Development to be featured in a University-wide event.  

Questions? Reach out to Lauri Dietz (ldietz1@luc.edu).