2026-2027 Awards

Fall Application Form

Spring Application Form

Purpose of the Awards

The College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) at James Madison University offers financial assistance to stimulate and assist teaching effectiveness, advance creative scholarly and research agendas, or assist in developing service activities, while also reflecting the goals of the academic unit, college, and university. Proposals in any field of creative or scholarly activity related to the faculty members’ discipline may be submitted.  Awards are to be used to sustain activities necessary to complete the proposed projects or endeavors, including travel expenses and other related costs (see budget section for restrictions).

Each award will not exceed $4,000. Note that partial funding may be awarded in an effort to support as many projects as possible. Willingness to accept partial funding generally increases the likelihood of receiving an award.

Eligibility

Proposals may be submitted individually or on behalf of a team. The Principal Proposer/Investigator/Creator/Initiator must be a full-time CVPA faculty member (including academic unit heads). Faculty members may be part of multiple Faculty Professional Development Award proposals; however, they will only be eligible to receive one award as a Principal Proposer in each academic year. Faculty members may apply for and earn these awards annually. Junior faculty members are particularly encouraged to apply.

Proposal Components

 Submit your proposal through the online form for the appropriate application cycle:

Proposal components include:

  • Proposal Title
  • Principal Proposer Name, Academic Unit, and JMU Email
  • Name(s) and Affiliation(s) of Collaborators
  • Proposal Summary (not more than 100 words)
  • Project Narrative (not more than 1,000 words, excluding references)
  • Expected Outcomes (not more than one page)
  • Timeline, including start and completion dates (not more than one page). Carefully review the expenditures timeline below before completing your timeline.
  • Project Budget. Review the Funding FAQ page prior to finalizing your budget.
  • Team Member CVs (not more than two pages each)

Note: Because members of the review committee may not have a specialized knowledge of the proposer's field, the proposal summary and narrative must be sufficiently detailed to describe the project in nontechnical language or jargon.  

Expenditures Timeline

  • Projects awarded in the fall cycle (due November 1, 2026) will be funded out of the current fiscal year budget. All expenditures must be completed with receipts submitted by June 10, 2027.
  • Projects awarded in the spring cycle (due February 28, 2027) will be funded out of the next fiscal year budget. No expenditures may be made before July 1, and all expenditures should be completed with receipts submitted by October 31. A later deadline may be possible with advance CVPA approval.

Proposal Submission and Review

Proposals will be reviewed two times a year by the CVPA Professional Development Committee.  Proposals should be submitted via the appropriate web form above by the end of the day on Sunday, November 1, 2026 for the fall cycle, or by the end of the day on Sunday, February 28, 2027 for the spring cycle.

Submissions will be sent to the Principal Proposer’s academic unit head and school fiscal specialist to verify that the budget items align with JMU policies. If a proposal does not meet budget policy specifications, the faculty member will have one week to make alterations or adjustments to ensure compliance with JMU policy. Following this review, the Associate Dean will submit approved proposals to the CVPA Professional Development Award Committee for review. The CVPA Professional Development Committee will review proposals and make funding recommendations to the Dean.

Notification and Feedback

The Dean will notify applicants of the status of their proposals by the end of the semester in which their proposal was submitted. Proposals that do not receive funding are eligible to revise their proposal and resubmit in the following review period. Proposals that receive full or partial funding will be notified of any award conditions or restrictions and should meet with their school’s administrative assistant to enact their project budget.

Reporting

A complete program and financial report for the project must be provided to the Associate Dean within 60 days after the completion of the award period. Failure to submit this report on the requested timeline will result in ineligibility for Professional Development Awards the following academic year. Recipients also agree to share information about their award-funded activities at the Sparks Research Symposiumthe February following project completion. Program and financial report components include:

  • Title Page with Project Name and Contributing Members 
  • Summary of Project 
  • A 3- to 5-page review of your project, written for a general audience and suitable for incorporation into presentations or displays.
  • Photographs suitable for incorporation into presentations or displays; videos are also encouraged.
  • Assessment of project and any proposed future projects 
  • Financial Report with Receipts 

Evaluation Rubric

The evaluation rubric that the CVPA Professional Development Committee will use to review applications may be reviewed on the CVPA Faculty and Staff Teams Site: CVPA Professional Development Award Rubric 2026-2027.pdf

Sample Proposals

Many faculty members that have received funding through these awards have generously offered to share their successful proposals as reference resources. These can be found in this folder on the CVPA Faculty and Staff Team: Professional Development Award Funded Application Examples

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College of Visual and Performing Arts
Forbes Center for the Performing Arts
MSC 2107
147 Warsaw Avenue
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
College of Visual and Performing Arts