Financial Awards for Faculty

Marine and Coastal Opportunities, in the Division of Academic Affairs, offers financial awards to recognize faculty excellence and expand marine and coastal undergraduate course offerings at the Oregon Coast. These awards programs are inspired by expanded programming developed through the Marine Studies Initiative, the growing cross-college interest in place-based learning that leverages Hatfield Marine Science Center’s unique facilities and coastal environment, and the calls in OSU’s Prosperity Widely Shared strategic plan to redesign undergraduate programs for 21^st-century students. 

With new and expanded student and faculty housing now available at Hatfield Marine Science Center, these award programs support faculty in delivering high-impact experiential courses at the coast and expand undergraduate learning opportunities for students from all Colleges and campuses. 

Experiential learning reflects the University’s commitment to expanding undergraduate engagement and strengthening student success. When done well, these practices boost retention, deepen engagement, and improve graduation rates across diverse student groups, while also cultivating higher-order thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and overall resourcefulness.  

We strive to support faculty in using the Oregon Coast as a dynamic learning environment and in developing credit-bearing courses that broaden student access to these high-impact curricular experiences. This work aligns with the goals of Prosperity Widely Shared, which calls for forward-looking academic programs that place hands-on, high-impact learning at the center of the undergraduate experience.

This award program addresses the recurring needs of faculty and departments to teach courses at Hatfield Marine Science Center, away from OSU’s Corvallis and Cascades campuses and typically requiring overnight stays at the coast. Although this award may not cover the full cost of an instructor’s stay while teaching, it is designed to significantly assist in reducing the expenses associated with ‘study away’ experiential learning courses for the academic unit. Learn about Hatfield Marine Science Center housing, including housing rates and application deadlines. 

Award amount: Up to $1,000 per OSU faculty teaching a credit-bearing OSU course at Hatfield Marine Science Center. We anticipate supporting up to ten field housing awards per year.  

Deadlines: This is an ongoing award program. Because funding is limited, we strongly encourage faculty to apply early. The MACO Awards Committee reviews applications quarterly, giving preference to those submitted by each priority deadline. Faculty may apply up to three terms before their course is offered. For example, if your course will run in Summer term, you could apply in the prior Fall, Winter, or Spring term—though the likelihood of receiving an award decreases the later you apply. Or, if your course is in Fall term, you could apply in the prior Winter, Spring, or Summer.  

Priority Deadline Schedule: *If this day falls on a weekend or holiday, the actual deadline is the following business day. 

• Summer housing: May 15 
• Fall housing: July 15 
• Winter housing: October 15 
• Spring housing: February 15 

Eligible field housing expenses: The only eligible expense is Hatfield Marine Science Center housing for one person (the faculty requesting the award). 

Awardee eligibility: Members of OSU Faculty, who are teaching OSU courses at the Hatfield Marine Science Center and have their primary academic appointment away from Hatfield (e.g., OSU-Corvallis). We will prioritize funding for applicants whose courses include structured, required on-site learning at Hatfield. 

Other considerations: 

• This award program is subject to change year-to-year depending on total award funds available and anticipated needs. This is a recurring -- but limited -- pool of funds intended to minimize barriers to faculty and departments for teaching credit bearing courses at the coast. 

• It will be the faculty awardee’s and/or department’s responsibility to coordinate the field housing at Hatfield Marine Science Center. The MACO Field Housing award will reduce the final amount billed to the faculty and/or department by the amount of the award.  

How to apply through our application portal:

The form fields are:

• Name and OSU contact information
• Prompt to upload a Word or PDF document, which must include: 

  • Your name and OSU contact information 

  • Course information:

    • The course you will be teaching

    • Status in the OSU course development and/or scheduling process

    • Target dates for the offering at the coast

    • Anticipated number of student enrollees coming to Hatfield 

• Amount requested and justification: Include total number of nights, cost per night, and total amount requested. 

• Supplemental information for our situational awareness: 

  • Have you checked with Hatfield about lodging availability? (Y/N) 

  • Do you know if a classroom has been reserved for your course? (Y/N/Don’t know) 

  • Is your department head currently aware of your request for field housing assistance to teach at Hatfield? (Y/N) 

  • Do you plan to engage with Hatfield’s facilities or research community outside of your teaching (e.g., library use, collaborative work, research activities)? (Y/N: If “YES”, please briefly describe how you hope to participate.) 

  • Have you sought other forms of financial assistance through grants or university support? If yes, please tell us a bit about your inquiries. Your answer will not affect our decision. We ask this question to better understand the range of funding options and inform our work to expand supportive programs. (Y/N). 

 Coastal Field Housing Application Portal 

Our primary aim is to assist academic units in increasing the number of OSU students participating in applied, coastal-located courses. We welcome proposals from all Colleges—especially for courses strategically designed to meet curricular needs and attract robust student enrollment. 

Tier I is a single-year award for course offerings at the Oregon coast in AY26-27. Up to $5,000 for modifying existing courses to adjust to new training needs. While the primary location is Hatfield Marine Science Center, other destinations on the Oregon coast may be eligible. Single-day field trips from Corvallis to the coast are not eligible. Recent awardees (faculty & the course) will be given lower preference in the new awarding process.  

Examples of projects include, but not limited to: 

• Adaptations of existing Ecampus, Corvallis and/or Cascades courses for instruction in AY26-27 at Hatfield 

• Piloting credit-bearing, cohort research experiences using OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center. 

• One-time investments in major supplies and/or equipment specific for Hatfield-based coastal offerings, e.g., sensors, updating protective gear, modernizing lab and field equipment. 

• Piloting new field excursions or other experiences before integrating them formally into future course fees. 

Questions? Contact MACO's Director (Kristen Milligan) prior to submitting your proposal. 

Proposals due by 5 pm (Pacific) February 16, 2026. Award decisions are anticipated in early March.

Proposal Contents

• Cover Sheet: Title, project leader and key personnel, institutional affiliations, contact information, requested amount, project start date, and duration. 

• Proposal Narrative (3 pages, max) must describe: 

  • The course, its status in the OSU catalog and/or course proposal process, and its role in curricula within your home unit/College and other Colleges 

  • Timeline 

  • Student audience(s) 

  • Impact of this investment on students 

  • Anticipated enrollment 

  • Conditions that need to be met for the course to be well enrolled and successful. 

  • If a course adaptation is proposed for a new offering at Hatfield: Faculty should indicate if their academic home unit leadership has been notified of this proposal and the department’s willingness to offer the course in AY26-27. 

  • If major supplies or equipment are proposed, faculty should describe: (a) the likelihood that the purchase will be valuable to other instructors; (b) any long-term maintenance considerations; and (c) their willingness for these items to remain at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center as part of a shared-access, equipment lending library. If you believe your requested equipment should be exempt from a shared-access model, please justify why exclusive use is necessary. A collaborative MACO-HMSC team will review major supply and equipment proposals to ensure new inventory can be adequately managed.  

• Proposal Budget (3 pages, max): Include personnel, supplies, services, travel, and other allowable costs with justifications. Use the provided budget template; minor adjustments to the template are allowable, and we invite you to contact us if you have questions. 

  • Tuition is not eligible. 

  • Personnel - Note: If funded, the faculty’s home unit is responsible for any payroll documentation (e.g., labor distributions, summer appointments, hourly wage appointments). 

  • Faculty salary or wages and benefits. Salary or wages and benefits are eligible during course development. This cost category is strongly discouraged during the actual teaching of the course. If requested for the course offering, justify the need in relation to other departmental support. 

  • Student wages and benefits. Hourly wage only. This is an allowable cost. 

  • Transportation: If you use OSU Motor pool, please use currently published rates in your estimates. 

  • Supplies, Equipment: Itemize your request, being as specific as possible about the supplies/equipment you are proposing. In your justification, include considerations of long-term maintenance implications (e.g. if a sensor, what are calibration and other maintenance needs and typical costs?). 

  • Note: We reserve the right to contact the lead faculty, as needed for clarifications to facilitate our review process. 

How to apply through the application portal: 

• The form fields are: 

  • Name and OSU contact information 

  • Prompt to upload a Word or PDF document, which must include the above-listed contents of the narrative and budget as a single document 

  • Supplemental information for our situational awareness: 

    • Do you know if a classroom has been reserved for your course? (Y/N/Not applicable) 

    • If a Summer or Fall 2026 course: Is the process for scheduling your course underway through your department? (Y/N/Not applicable) 

    • If a Fall, Winter, or Spring course: Have you consulted with HMSC housing about space and estimated costs to inform your timeline and budget? (Y/N) 

    • If a supplies/equipment request: Do you have other ideas about inventory that would best serve and support courses at the coast? If yes, please comment here. We appreciate your feedback. (text box, optional question) 

Application portal

These are opportunities to advance bold new ideas and approaches for coastal-based courses. We invite faculty to develop and deliver new experiential courses, using the Oregon coast with a preference for Hatfield Marine Science Center as the learning site.  

Examples of courses given preference include: 

• Courses with strategic roles in curricular renovations 

• Course-based research experiences  

• Those with extended presence at Hatfield, such as 1-5 weeks or full-term courses 

• Service courses expected to engage students from various Colleges 

• Those providing experiential learning for new students  

•  High-impact training in cross-disciplinary marine and coastal skill sets. 

A brief Letter of Support is needed from the faculty’s home academic unit head, indicating general support for the proposed course and noting how it contributes to curricular developments. 

Questions? Contact MACO’s Director (Kristen Milligan) prior to submitting your proposal. 

Awardees will be invited to join MACO and HMSC for a course development launch event, where ideas can be exchanged and information provided about logistics support for academic offerings at the coast. Beyond this funding assistance, we aim to help awardees with their questions, liaising with coastal resources, and raising visibility of the newly developed opportunities. 

Proposals due by 5 pm (Pacific) February 16, 2026. Award decisions anticipated in early March.  

Two categories of proposals:

• One-time, new courses: Up to $5,000 for development and $2,500 for the course offering ($7,500 maximum). These courses typically fulfill students’ electives and leverage episodic opportunities for learning such as visiting faculty, special topics, emerging research, and other special situations for teaching and student training. 

---OR---

• Recurring course offerings for core education and major requirements: Up to $10,000 in the first development year, followed by a commitment by MACO to financially assist in the first three annual offerings of the course at Hatfield to build enrollment and integration into curricula.  

  • This is a multi-year commitment for faculty and their departments to develop new undergraduate course(s) to become features of the OSU undergraduate experience. 

  • Coordinated proposals are encouraged to result in full-time study opportunities at Hatfield Marine Science Center (e.g., 9, 12, or 15 credits total). 

Proposal Contents

• Cover Sheet: Title, faculty leader(s), home academic unit(s), contact information, requested amount, project start date, and proposal category (one-time offering or recurring course offerings). 

• Proposal Narrative (3 pages, max) must describe: 

  • The proposed new course, status in the OSU catalog and/or course proposal process, role in curricula, 

  • Proposed timeline for development and first offering. Be specific about the proposed academic session for the first offering. 

  • Student audience(s) 

  • Impact of this investment on student success 

  • Anticipated enrollment 

  • Conditions that need to be met for the course to be well enrolled and successful. 

  • If the proposal is for a one-time offering: Please share some context about the motivation for this opportunity. 

  • If the proposal is for recurring course offerings of core education or major requirements: Please share some situational context about: (1) mechanisms you and/or your department are considering to develop and maintain this course as a recurring offering; (2) whether you or your proposal team have received other development awards for the same course or series of courses and how this particular award will make a meaningful impact to your curricular development work. 

• Letter of Support: a brief statement from the faculty’s home academic unit head, indicating general support for the proposed course and noting how it contributes to the department’s curricular developments. We reserve the right to contact home academic units as needed to facilitate the review process. 

• Proposal Budget (3 pages, max): Include personnel, supplies, services, travel, and other allowable costs with justifications. Use the budget template; minor adjustments to the template are allowable and we invite you to contact us if you have questions.
  • Tuition is not eligible.
  • Personnel- Note: If funded, the home unit for the project leader is responsible for any payroll documentation (e.g., labor distributions).
    • Faculty salary or wages and benefits. Salary or wages and benefits are eligible during course development. This cost category is strongly discouraged during the actual teaching of the course. If requested for the course offering, justify the need in relation to other departmental support.
    • Student wages and benefits. This is an allowable cost.
  • Field housing: Please note that there is a separate faculty field housing award, to which faculty can apply for course offerings. If faculty need to use Hatfield housing during course development, please include that development cost in this Advancement Award proposal.
  • Transportation: If you use OSU Motor Pool, please use currently published rates in your estimates.
  • If the proposal is for a one-time offering: Include a proposed budget for development and the course offering.
  • If the proposal is for recurring course offerings of core education or major requirements: Include the proposed budget for the development component (up to $10,000), followed by a narrative summary (in your budget justification) of types of costs you anticipate for your first three offerings.

Note: We reserve the right to contact the lead faculty, as needed for clarifications, to facilitate our review process.

How to apply through the application portal: 

• The form fields are: 

  • Name and OSU contact information 

  • Prompt to upload a Word or PDF document, which must include the above listed contents of the narrative and budget as a single document 

  • Supplemental information for our situational awareness: 

    • Have you consulted with HMSC housing about space and estimated costs to inform your timeline and budget? (Y/N) 

    • If supplies/equipment are part of your request: Do you have other ideas about other inventory that would best serve and support courses at the coast? If yes, please comment here. We appreciate your feedback. (text box, optional question) 

 Application portal

• 2025 Advancement Awardees
• 2024 Advancement Awardees

Prior to 2026, MACO offered 'Advancement Awards' to OSU faculty looking to cultivate interdisciplinary collaborations with a focus on human dimensions of the ocean or coasts; want to expand or enhance educational opportunities at the coast; and/or seek to further inclusive excellence in marine-related programs. The Advancement Award program has since transitioned into MACO's Financial Awards for Faculty.