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Faculty Challenge Grants

Application Deadline: May 17, 2024

One goal of the Sharing Our Scholarship committee is to encourage and support the efforts of Spalding faculty to pursue research in their fields and across disciplinary boundaries. One way that SOS does this is by offering Faculty Challenge Grants, funded by the Office of Academic Affairs. Two grants are available for the 2024-25 academic year. Faculty may apply to be reimbursed for up to $750 for expenses that contribute to faculty scholarship within their discipline, across disciplines, or in relation to teaching and learning. 

 

Examples of grants that have been funded in the past, related to ongoing or time-limited research projects:

  • paying for a web designer, a domain name, and storage for a website to attract and collect information, feeding into an on-going research project 
  • editorial fees prior to publishing a book 
  • recruitment incentives for research participants 
  • travel to site-specific community events to conduct interviews
  • obtaining a high-quality survey and data set from an online survey provider 
  • registration for and/or travel to an academic conference to present an accepted paper or poster 

 

Eligibility:

  • Faculty members who are tenured, tenure-track, non-tenure track, or .75 FTE with a minimum of one year of employment at that status at the time of application are eligible to apply for a Challenge Grant. Faculty who received a grant in 2023-24 may not apply again (but will be eligible again in 2025-26).

 

Timeline:

  • May 17, 2024: Application letter due
  • May 18-30: Peer review of applications: A selection committee composed of both SOS members and other faculty will review the applications and make recommendations to the Provost. Applicants for Faculty Challenge Grants will not serve on the selection committee. If there are more applications than grants, preference will be given to early career faculty.
  • May 31: 2024-25 Faculty Challenge Grant recipients announced
  • July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025: Grant funds spent and faculty reimbursed
  • September 1, 2025: Brief written reports due (about how the funds were used and how the project benefits the faculty member’s disciplinary/interdisciplinary scholarship and interactions with students)
  • Fall 2025: Recipients will give a short presentation to the Spalding community about their funded project.

 

Application Guidelines:

Please respond to the following questions in the form of a memo or letter (about 1.5 single-spaced pages should be fine), uploaded at the bottom of this page:

  1. What is the research project you are working on, and why is the project requiring funding important to your field?
  2. How does the research project relate to the mission of Spalding University?
  3. What impact will the project have on your teaching or your interactions with students?
  4. What will the grant be used for?  Please provide a detailed breakdown of how you would use the funds, showing that you have researched the cost of goods, services, travel, etc.
  5. What specific project outcomes will be facilitated by this grant? Indicate if you have other sources of funding for this project, or if you have obtained other grants for this project in the past.

 

FAQs:

  • Is it OK to apply for funding so I can buy a tablet or laptop for my research?
    If funds are used to purchase electronic equipment, it becomes the property of Spalding University.
  • Can a Faculty Challenge Grant be used to purchase classroom materials or equipment to help students with their professional training?
    No, the grants are for faculty projects. The only rationale for using the grant money for purchases for students is if the students’ activities are part of a research study conducted by the applying faculty member.
  • Can I use the grant for purchases made during the 2023-24 academic year?
    No, the grants are for faculty projects in progress or completed between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.
  • When and how would I receive the grant money? 
    The grant is issued as a reimbursement for goods, services, or travel purchased by the faculty member for up to $750. Funds must be used, and receipts submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA), by June 30, 2025. Reimbursement may take a few weeks.
  • Are there any reporting requirements?
    A brief, formal, written report of how an awardee benefited from the Challenge Grant is required and will be due on September 1, 2024. In addition, grant recipients are expected to give a short presentation to the Spalding community (e.g., at a President’s Tea) about their projects.
  • More questions? Contact Dori Miller Parmenter ([email protected]), Co-Chair of the SOS committee, if you have specific concerns about your project or the application process.

 

Upload your application here: