Course Support
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Guide to MPES Course Support: Table of Contents
Course Development Support
Funding for course development is available to support faculty who are designing and teaching a new Community Engaged course or a Public Facing course with a substantive public facing module/assignment. Funding is typically used to hire graduate student Research Assistants (RAs) during the summer or term prior to when the course will be first taught. RAs are hired through faculty departments and are paid hourly.
Course Support Staff
Limited funding is available for Teaching Fellows (TFs) and Teaching Assistants (TAs) in Community Engaged courses, or courses with substantive Public Facing modules/assignments. TFs in MPES courses support the engaged teaching, learning, and community engagement aspects of engaged scholarship courses. The MPES does not directly fund instructional support in the traditional sense (eg. funding to run a weekly discussion section). MPES works with OUE when appropriate to ensure adequate and complementary support.
TFs and TAs are often graduate students, but may also be practitioners or other professionals who are best suited to support an engaged scholarship course.
Course support staff assist with course administration, manage logistics, liaise with community partners, oversee and facilitate students’ work with organizations and collaborators, and provide ongoing support and scaffolding for students and student teams working on term projects.
Funding for TFs, TAs, CAs, and RAs under the following circumstances:
- For seminar courses that do not have instructional support
- To take on additional responsibilities in a lecture or lab-based course, such a funding to increase a TF’s time from .2 to .4
- To allow for smaller section sizes in project-based courses
- For a dedicated engaged scholarship section in a lecture course
- For limited administrative support for engaged aspects (i.e.: to manage off-campus experiences or capstone events)
All course support staff (TFs, TAs, CAs, and RAs) are hired through faculty departments.
The MPES is unable to fund fringe benefits.
This may limit eligibility when hiring course support. Faculty should work with their departments to ensure course support staff are hired below the benefits threshold.
Course Expenses
MPES will send a “Budget Request for Course Expenses” form to faculty prior to the start of the semester.
MPES can only consider funding for courses that submit a budget in advance. Expenses must be approved in advance so that we may provide funds to departments to cover expenses without creating a deficit.
Faculty in need of funding for course expenses must submit a budget. Limited funds are allocated as equitably as possible. Funds may be used: (1) to support activities, events, and assignments that bring students into communities and organizations and that help build relationships; (2) to help ensure that all students are able to participate in these experiences regardless of need; (3) to support innovative, engaged pedagogy.
Faculty should inquire about other funding sources in order to make MPES funding available to faculty without additional resources. Faculty should consult their Department and Divisional Dean’s office for funding for field trips, honoraria, and travel expenses. More information about additional funding sources is available on the MPES Canvas Site at this link.
Example Course Expenses
Transportation in Metro Boston
MBTA T-passes (bus and train) and commuter rail for students or community collaborators, parking on Harvard’s campus for community collaborators, local or regional bus when appropriate.
Use mass transit for students and field trips (take the T or Commuter Rail) whenever possible.
Bus rentals: If the MBTA isn’t feasible for a field trip, faculty should contact the Harvard Transportation and Parking Office about the possibility of using their charter shuttle service before contacting MPES about renting a yellow bus.
MPES does not fund Ubers for students.
Field Trips
Includes tickets, registration fees, and food-when necessary.
We ask that students make arrangements with the Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) to pick up to-go lunches whenever possible.
Event Expenses
Includes light refreshments for capstones or community meetings.
Course events for students usually entail pizza and soda or a similarly priced lunch, or light refreshments.
Printing
Includes large format posters for public student presentations, documents to distribute to partner organizations, etc.
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Materials and Equipment
Includes equipment (software, cameras, etc) directly related to engaged components of the course that is not already available from the Harvard libraries and media centers.
Honoraria
MPES funds honoraria only in exceptional circumstances. We require that faculty members have exhausted all other funding options, that the guests interact with students beyond a “guest lecture” format, and that guests provide a perspective or expertise beyond academia, industry, or government.
Gift Cards
Purchasing gift cards is not recommended and may pose challenges for reimbursement. Faculty are recommended to consult with their department to obtain advance approval.
Payment, Reimbursements, and Processing Expenses
With a few exceptions, all payments should be made, and expenses processed by faculty and their departments as follows:
- Departments should use the MPES billing string/33-digit code whenever possible (e.g.: for Crimson Catering). The MPES will coordinate with Departments.
- Faculty or department may request reimbursement in Concur.
- A single reimbursement at the end of the term, or two reimbursements with one at the midterm, are appreciated.
- Students with covered course expenses should have a non-employee reimbursement processed by the faculty member’s department. Alternatively, faculty can reimburse students and then submit an employee reimbursement through Concur. A receipt is required for reimbursement.
- Invoice for payment by non-Harvard affiliates should be processed by the faculty member’s department.
- Departments may journal expenses to the Mindich Program.
MPES will pay for the following expenses directly, once approved:
Transportation in Metro Boston
Please provide information on the number of passes needed (number of students x number of trips) at the start of the term, or at least two weeks in advance of your trip. We will prepare a packet of T-passes for pick-up.
Transportation on Eastern Bus Company yellow bus*
The Mindich Program will only manage yellow bus transport on Eastern Bus Company. All other forms of yellow or coach bus should be managed by the faculty member and their department.
*if the destination is outside of the range of Harvard Transportation chartered shuttle bus service.
Printing with Gnomon Copy in Harvard Square
Note that Lamont Multimedia Lab has a large format printer for posters and accepts the MPES billing code.
Access to event space in the Phillips Brooks House
The Parlor Room on the first floor of the PBH is available for MPES course events with advance notice. Parlor has A/V and a seated capacity of 50 people or standing capacity of 75. Please let the Mindich Program know if you would like to reserve Parlor. Reservations should be made as soon as possible.
Course Guests and Collaborations
Guests in Engaged Scholarship courses work with students in ways that differ from what is often supported by academic departments. In Mindich courses, students should actively engage with guests; guests should facilitate student engagement with materials and perspectives in community settings; and/or guests should provide expertise outside of the academic domain in some way. Visits and conversations with guests are conceptualized as active, not passive experiences, and should entail more than simply listening to a speaker. We fund bi-directional experiences between students and guests/collaborators which inform academic work and, importantly, support students’ active engagement with a public audience, defined group, or community. When possible, we encourage sustained relationships with guests and partners over the course of a semester (whether through multiple visits, feedback mechanisms, preparatory and reflection work, particular types of deliverables, etc.).
MPES can sometimes provide funding for guests to come to class and work with students when those individuals are practitioners, activists, organizers, artists, leaders of community-based organizations, frontline workers, etc.- people who are not often invited into Harvard classrooms.
- MPES does not provide honoraria to, for example, senior scholars, policy experts, and alumni.
- MPES is not able to pay for co-instructors or collaborator/consulting fees.
- Funds for artists’ fees and in-class workshops will be considered on an individual basis (in this instance, presenters will need to invoice as opposed to being paid an honorarium), and preference will be given to experiences that directly impact assignments resulting in deliverables with defined audiences.
- In project-based and participatory courses the experience/project should be mutually beneficial to students and community collaborators, and in most cases should not require compensation for collaborators to work with students. The MPES can cover costs associated with the project and community partners’ engagement (e.g., travel to visit class) so collaborators do not incur any costs.
- Honoraria are arranged through your department.