ProPEL Call for Submissions

The Professional Practice Education Library (ProPEL) is a growing library of online educational video resources focusing on professional practice. A partnership between the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), the library provides a flexible online platform for faculty and students to access digital learning materials. Faculty can select lessons as desired and integrate them with their teaching. The goal of ProPEL is to expand teaching resources to help better equip students for the future of architectural practice.

ProPEL is pleased to announce an open call for proposals for a series of video lessons in a range of areas (or units). Each unit should consist of four to six lessons, with each lesson being 6 to 12 minutes in length. Units will also include an introduction with presenter headshot, bio, and learning objectives for the unit. 

We especially seek submissions for the following topics: 

• Business Development
• Contracts and Agreements
• Defining Scope of Services
• Equity and Inclusion from the Firm Perspective
• Lean Design
• Project Delivery Models
• Public Policy from the Firm Perspective 
• QA/QC and Data Collection
• Social Justice
• Working with Consultants

ACSA and NCARB will provide funds in the form of honoraria or stipends to support development of the videos. ACSA and NCARB will also provide the services of an instructional designer and/or graphic designer to support the development of the lessons and units. The total amount of the funding, typically up to $5,000 per unit, will vary based on the proposal. All video authors/speakers will be required to sign an agreement authorizing the use of the videos and all other content and graphics by ACSA and NCARB. 

Units will be published on the ProPEL website. Free access to ProPEL is a benefit of membership in the ACSA. ProPEL videos are available to stream through the website and may be integrated into learning management systems. Selected content may also be adapted for online Continuing Education courses through NCARB, available free to active NCARB Certificate Holders. 

Each unit proposal must include the following. Use the bolded words to structure each section of the proposal: 

1. Name(s) of faculty authors. Please include institution and title/rank. 
2. Bio. Please provide a 100-word or less biographical statement about each faculty author.  
3. Title of the unit and each lesson. 
4. Learning objectives for the unit.  
5. Outline of content in each lesson, including the names and pertinent information about each speaker.
6. Status of Content. Describe the state in which your lessons are today. We would like to understand how much work with our instructional designer and graphic designer will be required. (We are open to projects that are in the early stages.) Please indicate whether the content for each lesson is (a) brand new (i.e., being created for ProPEL), (b) adapted from existing course materials (e.g.,  lecture or speaker will need to be recorded), or (c) ready to be used by other faculty. 
7. Delivery Time. If your proposal is accepted, when do you anticipate being ready to work with our designers?     
8. Budget (optional). If the project requires funding to deliver the videos, please provide a line item budget and describe its use. We prefer to use our instructional and graphic designers and will cover those costs, which do not need to be part of the optional budget.    

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis.  Proposals will be reviewed by the ProPEL Editorial Board and ACSA/NCARB staff. When a proposal is accepted, ACSA will provide an agreement to deliver the unit that outlines the funding, terms, and anticipated timeline. Once signed, the authors are able to work with our designers to develop and complete the videos. 

Note that we do not require broadcast-quality videos recorded in a media studio. However, we expect recordings to adhere to basic standards for video and audio quality. ACSA’s designers will work with authors to craft graphics that match or coordinate with other ProPEL videos.  

Once delivered, units will be reviewed for quality and appropriateness for publication.  

Please email your proposal as a PDF attachment to info@acsa-arch.org. Direct any questions to Julia McKenzie, jmckenzie@acsa-arch.org. To view the ProPEL library, click here: https://propel.yuja.com/.