Research Enhancement Program

What is the purpose of the Research Enhancement Program?

The College of Liberal Arts has established a competitive Faculty Research Enhancement Program designed to provide summer research support for faculty. This program, which began in FY94-95, is intended to provide support beyond the major internal grant programs directed by the Vice President for Research.

Who may apply?

Only tenure-track assistant professors in the College of Liberal Arts are eligible to apply for these funds. Recipients of a Faculty Research Enhancement award will be eligible to apply again after an interval of two years. Faculty receiving support from either the Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities, the Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives Enhancement Program or the Energy Resources Program will not be eligible in that year to receive a College Faculty Research Enhancement Award.

What is the limit of the Award?

Awards will not exceed $5,000 and must be expended within 15 months of notification. These funds may be used for salary or other appropriate research purposes. If taken in the form of salary, additional funds will be provided to support the cost of all corresponding fringe benefits. Whether recipients teach during the summer they receive an award will be decided through discussions with their department heads. Because award notifications will come late in the academic year, researchers may elect to take their awards in the subsequent summer.

What is the length and format of the application?

Proposals will include a standard cover and budget page, a one-page curriculum vitae, and a maximum three-page, double-spaced narrative that includes the following:

• the significance
• objectives
• method or approach
• specific potential for furthering the applicant's research program
• external funding agency where subsequent research proposals will be sent if appropriate, or specific intended scholarly product

Proposals should be written so that the nature and significance of the intended project will be clear to readers in the College outside the applicant's discipline. This is critical, as all proposals will be read and evaluated by reviewers from all departments in the College.

How many copies of the proposal should be submitted?

Twelve copies of the proposal will be submitted to the office of the Liberal Arts Executive Associate Dean.

What is the schedule for proposal submission and review?

• Applications are due the last working day of March.
  
• Results are announced pending notification from University programs.

What are the criteria for selection?

Projects will be evaluated for originality and their potential to advance the field or discipline. The researcher should be clearly qualified and the plan cost effective. A critical evaluation criterion will be the likelihood the researcher will parlay the award into a clearly defined scholarly product or a proposal to an external funding agency.

What is the review process?

Proposals will be reviewed by the Planning and Resources Committee, which consists of representatives from every department. Committee members will first rank submissions individually, then meet to establish a collective ranking. The results will then be forwarded to the Executive Associate Dean.

Some faculty may submit proposals to both a University program and the College Faculty Enhancement Program. If, when University awards are announced, a Liberal Arts researcher has succeeded in both competitions, then that researcher will be removed from the College awards list and replaced by the highest-ranked but unfunded applicant in the College pool.

What is the reporting process?

Recipients of a Faculty Research Enhancement Award will provide the Office of the Dean with a final report (not to exceed three pages) by the end of the 15-month award period. Any subsequent applications must have attached a report on the use of any prior College awards.

Download the application cover sheets in .pdf format here.

Please direct questions to Ben M. Crouch, Executive Associate Dean, 845-2141.