FACULTY RESEARCH GRANTS

A limited number of faculty research grants are available to full-time faculty members (part-time faculty are ineligible).

Eligibility to Apply for Funding

Who: Only Corps of Instruction faculty are eligible to submit proposals for funding.

When: The committee shall include a timeline for requests and disbursement of funds in its invitation for applications.

What: Any of the areas of scholarship in the Boyer classification [Discovery, Integration, Application, Teaching and Learning] shall be eligible.

The purpose of these grants is to fund individual faculty research proposals, and the funds can be used for supplies, equipment, software, or travel expenses incurred in carrying out the research. Faculty and Research Grant Committee members individually read and rank research proposals and then the committee meets as a whole to discuss the merits of each proposal. Committee deliberations remain confidential. When discussing the funding of proposals, the committee attempts to be cognizant that different methodologies and types of research are appropriate to different disciplines. Even so, the decision-making process is somewhat subjective. In an effort to provide the faculty with the parameters used during the review and allocation process, the university senate in April 2009 approved the following guidelines for prioritizing funding requested.

General Guidelines for Prioritizing Funding Requests

The committee shall utilize the following guidelines to prioritize funding requests.

performance of scholarship receives priority over its dissemination
collaborative scholarship [particularly with students] receives priority over individual scholarship
"seed money" to support external funding requests receives priority over those that are not "seed money"
those not previously funded [particularly "new" faculty] receives priority over those previously funded
those not recently funded shall receive priority over those recently funded
requests from permanent faculty receive priority over requests from temporary faculty

Proposals are accepted in the fall and spring of each year. All proposals should be submitted using the Faculty Research Grant Request form, http://info.gcsu.edu/intranet/facultyresearch/FacResGrant/

The following is an overview of the process the Faculty Research Grants Committee follows when reviewing proposals along with general guidelines to assist faculty in preparing a competitive faculty research proposal.

The process includes individual reading and ranking of the proposals and then an open discussion at a meeting as to the merits of each proposal. Committee deliberations remain confidential. When discussing the funding of proposals the committee attempts to be cognizant that different methodologies and types of research are appropriate to different disciplines. Even so, the decision-making process is somewhat subjective. This document is an attempt to standardize and publicize the guidelines in order to make future decisions more consistent, transparent, and equitable. These procedural considerations are intended to guide the committee during its deliberations, but are not intended to be used as rules for committee decisions.

Requests for proposals and allocation decisions will be made two to three times per year—this is to assist faculty whose projects have varied beginning dates. The funds must be spent during the year for which they have been allocated. There may be an allocation round that makes available funds for research over the summer but funds must ordinarily be spent by May and can't be used to "pay ahead" for a cost in the future. This allocation round for summer research is uncertain and should not be considered part of the normal cycle of requests for proposals.

Funds from awards received from Round I must be expended by May 1 of the academic year of the award. Awards from this round are funded through state and foundation funds, which do not carry over over from one fiscal year to another. If you cannot expend any funds awarded by this deadline, please wait until Round II to apply.

Funds from awards received during Round II must be expended by November 1 of the calendar year of the award. Awards from this round are funded through a portion of the indirect costs awarded to GCSU through external grants, which can be carried over from one fiscal year to another.

Other Guidelines

1) Faculty members may receive only one faculty research grant per year, regardless of whether the applicant is the primary or a secondary investigator.

2) Teams of faculty who collaborate on projects may apply for funding, but for travel-related expenses, priority is given to the principal investigator.

3) Proposals to fund attendance at a conference will only be considered where a paper has been accepted and the faculty member will complete the travel during the year the money will be allocated. Proposals that include requests for funds for travel to conferences are given a lower priority than proposals that that include requests for funds needed to conduct research.

4) Requests for faculty release time and/or stipends paid directy to a faculty member to support research or the use of graduate or student assistants will not be considered. Requests for personal services, such as transcription, will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but funds may not be used to pay the faculty member for services related to their own research.

5) Proposals that indicate that an attempt to utilize resources across the campus or with others will receive more favorable rankings.

6) Funding will not be awarded to any faculty members who have not reported the progress or outcomes and dissemination of their projects from previous allocations. Submission of a final report is required, and one should not apply for another faculty research grant before closing, through submission of the required final report, any previous faculty research grants received.

7) Applicants should note that their respective representatives could give them insight as to how well their proposal is likely to be received by the committee and that they should share the proposal with the representative in advance of the deadline for proposals. This may assist the representative in being able to argue for a request in a discipline outside of the expertise of the committee.

8) Proposals should include detailed budget information, and where possible, actual quotes for items should be incorporated. Applicants should also note that, due to limited resources allocated for distribution their proposed project may be funded partially and they may wish to prioritize the items in their request with this in mind. Attempts to be cost-effective in accomplishing the goals of the research will be recognized.

9) Priority will be given to projects that involve students in the research and dissemination process. In cases of faculty/student research proposals, positive consideration will be given to proposals that clearly specify how the project contributes to the professional development of the faculty member.

10) All other things being equal, a proposal from a new faculty member (less than two years) who has not received funds in the past, will receive preferential consideration.

11) Positive consideration will be given to those who have not received funding recently.

12) Only proposals from full-time faculty, permanent or temporary, will be considered, with priority generally given to permanent faculty. If funds are available, proposals from temporary faculty will be carefully reviewed to be sure the money is spent in a way beneficial to the University.

13) All proposals from eligible faculty members will go through a competitive review process by the faculty research grants committee. the committee will recommend awards to the Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs, who will make the final approval of any award and provide notification to recipients.

14) Expenses for other faculty involved in the project who are not GCSU faculty will not be funded.

15) Proposals that indicate (in the Probability of Project Leading to Outside Funding section) that the request is "seed money" for larger, future grants will receive positive consideration.

16) Awards will generally not exceed $5,000.

All proposals should include the following information: (Please review the general guidelines prior to preparing your proposal.)

Purpose of Research Project: State precisely what is intended to be accomplished, ensuring that the statement is in "lay terms" as reviewers will be from a variety of disciplines.

Significance of Project: Indicate why the project is important to you, to GCSU, and/or to your discipline.

Research Methodology: Indicate specifically how the purpose will be accomplished, what will be done, how it will be done, what resources will be used, etc.

Research Project Time Line: Indicate anticipated beginning and completion dates of the project. Include dates for any major steps during the project.

Method of Dissemination of Results: Indicate what you expect to do with the study when completed. Specify the appropriate journals to which the study might be submitted or conference at which it may be presented. If a publication results, be sure to acknowledge the support of GCSU and the GCSU Foundation.

Probability of Project Leading to Outside Funding: Indicate outside sources from which funding may be requested for future development or expansion of this project.

Application for or Receipt of Funding for This Project From Any Other Source: If yes, give details (when, from whom, amount, etc.).

Previous Faculty Research Grants Received: If you have received a GCSU faculty research grant in the past two years, please indicate the title of the grant, amount received, date received, and date final report was submitted.

Use of Animal or Human Subjects: If yes, indicate whether you have applied for and received IRB approval.

Detailed Budget Narrative: Explain in detail each requested expense and why it is necessary to the project.

FACULTY RESEARCH GRANTS COMMITTEE

FACULTY RESEARCH NEWSLETTER