ITHACA, N.Y. -- Nominations and applications are being sought for Cornell University's Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship in Service-Learning. The deadline for submissions is March 31.

The fellowship was created by Cornell alumni Barbara Kaplan '59, her husband, Leslie Kaplan, son Douglas Kaplan '88 and daughter Emily Kaplan '91 in recognition of the importance of the national movement in higher education for greater involvement in civic engagement. Two $5,000 awards will be given to Cornell faculty members seeking to establish or expand innovative service-learning projects that actively involve Cornell students in community-based action research, teaching and outreach efforts that address important community-identified policy issues.

Members of the Cornell community are invited to nominate individual faculty members for the Kaplan fellowship. Nominees/applicants must be full-time Cornell faculty members and they must be able to demonstrate involvement in public scholarship in their nomination/application. Faculty members can apply on their own or be nominated.

Completed applications should include:

o a letter of nomination from a colleague, department chairperson/institute director, student, college dean or administrator, and/or a letter of interest if self-nominating;

o a cover page including applicant name, title, department/affiliation, proposal title and abstract;

o a course enhancement or a new course proposal, which: describes the intellectual, pedagogical and program development work that will be completed during the Kaplan fellowship and documents how the proposal both responds to an important community need and involves local leaders in its planning and implementation phases;

o letters of support from community partners;

o a copy of the faculty nominee's vitae;

o a letter or plan explaining how the fellow will institutionalize the course(s) into the standing curriculum of his or her academic department or unit;

o a sample of service-learning syllabi or evidence of scholarship in service-learning and civic engagement (this may be any type of publication on action research, pedagogy of service-learning or evaluation of the impact of community-based learning on student, faculty and community civic capacities); and

o acknowledgement that fellows are required to submit a reflective essay describing the implementation and impact of their service-learning initiative.

Nomination and application materials must be submitted together and must be received by the 4 p.m. March 31 deadline. For further information, contact Leonardo Vargas-Méndez, executive director of the Cornell Public Service Center, at 255-0674 or ljv1@cornell.edu .

Send nominations/applications and supporting materials to: Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship in Service-Learning, c/o Leonardo Vargas-Méndez, executive director, Cornell Public Service Center, 200 Barnes Hall.

Nominees/applicants for the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship in Service-Learning will be invited to the Kaplan Family Lecture on Public Service and dinner ceremony April 23, where the recipients will be announced.