Guidelines for Mini-Grant Application
The purpose of Mini-Grants is to encourage faculty to engage in research, scholarship, and creative activity which will ultimately lead to their professional growth and to the enhancement of our students' educational experience.
These grants consist of monies which may be used for assigned time, student assistants, clericals, supplies, services, equipment, operating costs, and travel. These grants shall be viewed as "seed monies," that is for projects which upon completion will have strong potential for gaining outside support. Preference will be given to proposals not previously funded but which show evidence of initial preparation. A proposed project shall not duplicate any other project already funded from any other source within the university during the same academic year. As a rule, requests for equipment which is generally available or attainable through College/Department and which is not specific to the project will not be recommended for approval.
Eligibility:
All tenure-track or tenured faculty members are eligible. Lecturers are eligible to apply for Mini-Grants as these are funded from the RSCA funds from the Chancellor’s Office. Faculty who are in the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) are not eligible to receive these awards. Only one completed application per grant category shall be submitted by an individual faculty member or principal investigator by the indicated deadline. Furthermore, applicants should avoid submitting the same proposal for funding in more than one of the categories unless it is clearly indicated the project necessitates dividing it into several parts. The request for multiple awards must be clearly justified.
The proposals will be read blind and reviewed by the appropriate College Professional Awards Committee. The criteria for the evaluation of proposals as stated in the Academic Senate Faculty Administrative Manual, FAM 036.4, are the following:
1. Proposals must clearly demonstrate quality in terms of the following:
a. Clarity: The proposal must clearly and concisely describe the project as a whole using non-specialist language whenever possible.
b. Objectives: The proposal must describe the objectives of the project and elaborate on the following:
1) the reasons for the applicant undertaking the project;
2) the purpose of the particular project;
3) if appropriate, the specific research questions or hypotheses; and
4) the project's relation to the faculty member’s present or future research or creative activity.
c. Methods: The proposal must clearly describe the activities, including methods and procedures, which will be conducted and must clearly show that these are designed to meet the stated objectives.
d. Feasibility: The proposal must present an organized plan of action which demonstrates that the project is feasible. When appropriate, a budget shall be included to demonstrate that the project can be conducted in a manner that utilizes effectively the resources requested.
e. Expected End Product: The proposal must elaborate on the expected end product of the project. This can be results such as publications (i.e., books, monographs, articles or scholarly papers), creative activity (i.e., gallery showings, concerts or theatrical productions), and external grant proposals.
2. Budget: The proposal must clearly indicate that the budget requested is necessary. Itemized expenditures are required. Provide a short justification for each category. If you need to use funds during the summer prior to the next academic year, indicate what funds will be necessary. Note that release time cannot be used in the summer. You must use the Budget form and the Budget Justification form found on the
3. Prior Grant Activity: The proposal must include the faculty member's prior record in the use of grant awards (Mini-grants and Summer Fellowships) in the past three years.
4. Proposals must show importance in terms of both the professional development of the faculty member, and also the body of knowledge of the faculty member's academic discipline, teaching fields, or areas of professional expertise.
PLEASE NOTE:
(1) Requests for Assigned Time will be based at $6,500. Please use this figure when projecting budgets.
(2) Upon completion of the grant project or at the end of grant period, successful applicants will be required to submit a 1-2-page written report summarizing the project and its results. Failure to submit a timely final report will exclude faculty members’ proposals for evaluation by the college Professional Awards Committee during subsequent award cycles.
Progress Reports are due in September of the following academic year.