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The Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (RCCE) is a comprehensive center to meet the evolving needs of students and alumni by embedding in its education business skills and 21st-century entrepreneurship training systems, delivered in a comprehensive range of strategies. The RCCE serves MICA students at all stages of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing/professional (Open Studies) education.
The Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (RCCE) Faculty Teaching Grants provides up to $1,250 in funding to support courses that infuse entrepreneurial concepts into curriculum and teaching at MICA.
Important Dates
Friday, October 9, 2026 -Faculty Information Session- RECORDING
Friday, October 9, 2026 - Applications Open - APPLY
Friday, November 6, 2026 - Applications close
Week of November 9, 2026 - Committee review of applications
Monday, November 16, 2026 - Notifications sent to spring awardees
Week of November 30, 2026 - Funding agreements sent
Friday, December 18, 2026 - Declaration of Grant Acceptance due
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The funds can be used to help seed projects, programs, trips or speakers in coursework designed to teach entrepreneurial skills.
The course must align with one or more of the Program Learning Objectives for Creative Entrepreneurship:
Create formal and informal business plans
Demonstrate competency in creating financial projections and managing operating budgets
Write grants and project proposals
Develop comprehensive marketing plans and strategies
Communicate effectively through visuals, verbally and in writing
Apply project management and leadership skills on projects, and with people, and teams
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All full-time faculty are eligible to apply for RCCE Faculty Teaching Grants. Part-time faculty who are teaching during the semester immediately prior to the grant period are also eligible to apply, but must secure endorsement from their Chair/Director. Previous awardees are eligible for funding in consecutive rounds only if they have closed out their grant from the previous round by the current round’s deadline. “Closed out” is defined as submitting all expenditures and filing a grant report with the RCCE.
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The RCCE Faculty Teaching Grant review committee will determine the awards. The criteria used in the decision-making process are outlined below. The panel may determine that one or more proposals receive partial funding.
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Grant proposals will be evaluated using the criteria outlined in the rubric below. Proposals must articulate how they align with one or more of the Program Learning Outcomes for Creative Entrepreneurship.
Priority is given to proposals that introduce entrepreneurial concepts into course content, assignments, or classroom projects. Preference is given to coursework that includes assignments for students to produce tangible creative deliverables across creative disciplines.
In the event that two or more proposals are considered to be of equal merit by the committee, priority will be given to an applicant who did not receive an award in the previous awards cycle.
Faculty Teaching Grant Awardees
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Karl Williamson - Course: Design Lab II
Lisa Perrin- Course: Illustrating for Surface Design
Shandra Strickland- Course: Advanced Book Illustration
Paul Jaskunas- Course: Publishing Culture
Jia Liu- Course: Digital Illustration
Joyce Hesselberth- Course: Junior Illustrations II
Priyanka Kumar- Course: Studio Remix RISO Lab
Christine Lee Chiang- Course: Prototyping
Melanie Stegman- Course: Special Topics: Collaborative Development of a Video Game
Normandie Luscher- Course: Hand Letters
Kristian Bjornard, Hayelin Choi, and Maureen Weiss- Course: Flexible Design Studio
Sandra Maxa and Rebecca Bradley- Course: Graphic Design/Illustration Collaborative Studio
Carla Vivian Cordova Chacon- Course: New Media 4D
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Iliana Quander- Course: Experimental Fashion
Rejja Camphor- Course: The Art of Reflection - Crafting Vision and Voice for Expression
Ada Pinkston- Course: Painting, Drawing, and General Fine Arts
Lauren Adams- Course: Senior Thesis
Micah Woods
Jia Liu- Course: Digital Illustration & Illustration for Kids
Whitney Sherman - Course: Entrepreneurship
Lisa Perrin- Course: Illustration & Entrepreneurship
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Spending for grants must be completed within the semester the funds are awarded.
Recipients of the Faculty Teaching Grant will be notified and sent agreements to sign. Recipients will also be required to have a midpoint check-in to give an update on course deliverables and use of funds to be scheduled by the RCCE Director.
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Faculty who are selected for funding will be able to access funding through their department P-card. Recipients are asked to request use of their department card and to track their FTG purchases in a log to be shared as part of your grant reporting package. When using your department card, make sure to reconcile your transactions with receipts and code it to the RCCE department while also providing a clear description in the memo line " SP'27 RCCE Faculty teaching grant purchase: Explanation of item". The department code will be shared in an email following the announcement of awardees.
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The grantee is expected to upload a summary outlining the use of the grant funds within 2 weeks of the project’s completion. The report will be at least 500 words long and include: the name of the course, the semester taught, the number of students in the course; an overview of new activities and how they relate to one or more of the Creative Entrepreneurship Program Learning Outcomes; notable outcomes; student work samples; student quotes related to the activity; and the grantee’s self-evaluation of the project.
Note that this report will be used as a record for the RCCE and may be shared throughout the MICA community. Additionally, faculty recipients may be called upon to share their project in intra-institutional events. Faculty may also be invited to share entrepreneurial assignments in a college database and resource library for other faculty interested in integrating similar activities into future courses. -
Previous Info Session Recording