Information Session: RCA Faculty Awards Program

Transcription

1 Information Session: RCA Faculty Awards Program

2 The RCA Program The RCA Awards program provides funding to support faculty research, scholarly, and creative activity, and to encourage faculty contributions to their disciplines. The program is administered by the RCA Subcommittee of the Faculty Senate in collaboration with the Office of Research Affairs.

3 The RCA Program The RCA program is funded through the CSU Chancellor s office and our Office of Research Affairs, which together are providing our campus up to $300,000 for AY

4 The Awards Up to $7,500 in research support expenses: Assigned Time: Up to four (4) units of assigned time for Fall 2018 and/or Spring 2019 Summer Salary: Up to $5,000 for summer salary during Summer 2019 Research Support Funds: Up to $7,500 for project-related expenses (travel, student assistants, materials and supplies, equipment, manuscript or page charges, etc.).

5 The Awards Faculty may apply individually or in teams for an award Total requested budget cannot exceed $7,500

6 Eligibility All Unit 3 faculty are eligible and encouraged to apply, including: Full-time faculty Part-time faculty Temporary faculty Probationary and Tenured faculty Lecturers Coaches Librarians Counselors

7 Eligible Projects Award recipients must produce a scholarly deliverable, such as an article or manuscript to be submitted for peer-reviewed publication; a grant proposal; juried exhibition; performance, etc. At the conclusion of the funding period, RCA award recipients will submit a required Project Report documenting the results of their work.

8 The Application Submit applications on-line through the InfoReady Review system: Deadline: 5 pm, Dec. 4, 2017

9 The Application A complete application will include: 1. Applicant and Proposal Details, including an Abstract (see InfoReady Review) 2. Application Narrative 3. Budget Request Form 4. Bio-sketch/CV 5. One-page bibliography that complements the Application Narrative 6. Optional single page of tables and/or figures

10 The Application Narrative Section I: Project Plan (up to 1,500 words total, 65% weighting) Section II: Potential to Complete the Project (up to 500 words, 15% weighting) Section III: Plan to Complete and Disseminate Project Deliverables (up to 500 words, 15% weighting) Section IV: Budget Justification (up to 250 words, 5% weighting)

11 Section I: The Project Plan A. Specific Aims: Identify your project objectives and proposed deliverables. Explain how the project meets expectations for scholarly deliverables in your field B. Background and Significance: Describe the background of the project and how it contributes to your discipline. Why is the project significant? C. Project Description: Outline your plan of work, including a description of your methodology and the activities to be undertaken to complete your deliverables. Highlight your planned publication and dissemination outlets and explain your selections.

12 Section II: Potential to Complete Project Describe the feasibility of the project and provide evidence of preparatory work. Preparatory work might include data collected and/or original sources identified; surveys or interviews conducted; preliminary drafts completed or results recorded; pilot studies accomplished; exhibits or performances scheduled. Identify any potential collaborators, including student assistants.

13 Section III: Plan to Complete and Disseminate Project Deliverables Provide a clear and realistic timeline, with relevant milestones, for completion of the project deliverables. For those applicants proposing to submit for external funding, identify which agency and funding opportunity you have targeted and outline the submission timeline. Provide a justification for the budget request. Indicate how the funding will be used to support the activities of the proposed project.

14 Section IV: Budget Narrative For each type of request (assigned time, summer research salary, research support funds), indicate how the funding will be used to support the activities of the proposed project. If you normally teach 3-unit classes and are applying for 4 units of assigned time, explain how your department will accommodate your release from the number of units you have requested.

15 Section IV: Budget Narrative Detail any current and pending support (including recently submitted applications), in the form of internal and external resources, to advance your research and scholarly agenda. Applicants may apply for support via the RCA program to supplement or complement other award funds, but may not receive support for the same effort.

16 The Review Process 1. Applicants should discuss their proposal, assigned time requests and budget with their department chair prior to submitting the final proposal 2. Upon submission, proposals will be screened for eligibility 3. Proposals will be electronically distributed to department chairs and college deans 4. A panel of tenure-track faculty will review each proposal 5. The RCA Subcommittee will rank proposals according to panel scoring

17 The Review Process Each proposal will be evaluated by a panel of faculty reviewers Faculty Review Panels will meet on Weds. Jan. 17 to discuss and evaluate proposals Reviewers will then score and provide written feedback on each proposal Upon request, reviewer comments will be available to the applicant

18 Sign up to be a Reviewer! RCA applicants are eligible and encouraged to serve on a review panel. Reviewers must be tenured or tenure-track faculty. To volunteer as a reviewer, please complete the online registration form by 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 ( rcachair@csus.edu for the form).

19 Award Notifications Notices to all applicants will be sent before the end of April 2018 via . Awardees must complete award acceptance and compliance forms, and acknowledge the requirement of a project report at the end of the award period. Summer salary awardees will receive their funds in June 2019 and research support expense funds will be available as early as August 2018.

20 Changes to Your Project After an award has been granted, any changes in project scope or deliverables must receive approval from the Office of Research Affairs and the Chair of the RCA Subcommittee. Neglecting to alert the Chair or Research Affairs of changes may jeopardize aspects of your award or your eligibility for future funding.

21 Application Tips The RCA program is competitive. For AY : 129 proposals were received. 41 projects were funded. Success rate: 32% For AY proposals were received. 37 projects were funded. Success rate: ~53%

22 Application Tips Construct your proposal with a general academic audience in mind. Don t assume faculty reviewers share your area of expertise. The faculty review panel likely will include reviewers from outside your discipline.

23 Application Tips Propose realistic objectives and deliverables. Be sure your project is feasible, given the funding or assigned time available.

24 Application Tips Follow the application instructions carefully. Structure your Application Narrative according to the four sections required of each proposal. Observe word count limits for each section.

25 Application Tips Strong proposals are clear, specific, and free of errors and typos. Avoid jargon and technical language that will be unfamiliar to readers outside of your area of expertise.

26 Application Tips Section I of the Application Narrative is weighted most heavily (65%). Be as clear and precise as possible as to your project objectives and deliverables. Make explicit what your project contributes to your discipline. What is the importance of your project? How does it fill a gap in existing scholarship? Or make known something new? Or employ a new methodology?

27 Application Tips Explain your methodologies. How will you go about accomplishing your project objectives? Explain how the project meets the expectations or standards for scholarly deliverables in your field Remember that your faculty reviewers may come from outside your discipline and may not be familiar with the specific scholarly practices of your field.

28 Application Do s Follow instructions Proofread Submit on time (late proposals cannot be considered) Be as clear and specific as possible in your project objectives and description.

29 Application Don ts Don t request more than $7,500 total budget Don t exceed word count maximums Avoid jargon and/or technical language unfamiliar to readers outside your discipline Avoid language denigrating others (including your colleagues, department, institution and yourself). Frame your proposal in constructive language instead.

30 Questions? Questions about the competition may be addressed to Dr. Nancy Sweet, Chair, RCA Subcommittee at For technical assistance on application submission, please contact Julie McGinty in Research Affairs at or